


I Love Her, I Love You Too

by welcometotheupsidedown



Series: love you from the upside down to the right side up [5]
Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Eleven | Jane Hopper and Mike Wheeler in Love, Eleven | Jane Hopper/Mike Wheeler-centric, F/M, I'm Bad At Tagging, One Shot Collection, Tags May Change, mileven owns my heart
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-04
Updated: 2020-09-21
Packaged: 2020-10-10 01:11:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 24,012
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20519507
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/welcometotheupsidedown/pseuds/welcometotheupsidedown
Summary: One-shot collection centering on important moments in Mike and Eleven's relationship.99% canon compliant, with three exceptions:1. El still has her powers2. Hopper isn't dead or in Russia3. The Byers never move awayBasically a place where I air out my frustrations of the ending for season 3 by, of course, essentially ignoring it!Overall rating Teen & Up, may change in the future. REQUESTS ARE ENCOURAGED AND APPRECIATED!!





	1. Rollercoaster

**Author's Note:**

> Hiii, another one-shot collection? another mileven one-shot collection? Why, yes. It is. Because I have no self control. 
> 
> Basically, if you've read my other one-shot collection, you'd know that it is strictly AU, whereas this one-shot collection is going to be more canon. 
> 
> I thought that this story, which I've been thinking about since I first watched 3x04, would be a good introduction into this series. 
> 
> Please, send me requests! I'll do anything from a short and cute scene to weddings, babies, whatever!

June 1986 

El was practically buzzing with excitement. Today was a very important day. Her fifteenth birthday. And the first time she would ever go to an amusement park. 

Mike had asked her a month ago what she wanted for her birthday, and she had thought back to the time that Will had mentioned a feeling she hadn’t understood: the feeling you get on a rollercoaster. El told Mike that she wanted to ride one, so they planned for a whole day of amusement park fun for her birthday. 

El was especially excited because this was the first time ever that she and Mike would be going anywhere alone. In a way, it was their first real date, even though they’d been together for a year and a half already. El was bouncing off the walls as she got ready, still getting used to having her own bathroom at the new house. 

She loved all her friends, and hanging out with everyone as the whole Party was great, but sometimes it felt like El couldn’t get two minutes alone with her boyfriend. Plus, their friends loved to tease them mercilessly, especially if they caught them kissing. 

Things had certainly gotten better with Mike after last July. Mike was honest about things, and always made sure El knew he trusted her. El worked on communicating her problems with Mike instead of just breaking up, as Max continued to do with Lucas. 

El heard the sounds of Mike and Hopper greeting each other downstairs, and she quickly grabbed her backpack, running down the stairs. 

Mike smiled brightly at El when she came flying towards him, throwing her arms around him. 

“I missed you,” she said. 

“I missed you, too,” Mike answered, hugging her back. 

“Jesus, you saw each other yesterday,” Hopper groaned from a few feet away. 

El rolled her eyes at him, and released Mike, but kept hold of one of his hands. 

“Okay, you two. You know the rules…” Hopper began.

“Don’t talk to strangers, stay together, be home by nine,” Mike recited in a somewhat annoyed voice. 

“And,” Hopper added. “No running off and making out, got it?”

Mike rolled his eyes. 

“Hands to yourself, Wheeler,” Hopper said, giving him a stern look.

“Yeah, yeah, I know.”

A car outside beeped, alerting them that their ride was ready to go. 

They ran out hand-in-hand, jumping into the back of Steve’s car. Hopper gave Steve a wave and nod, then went back into the house, smoking a cigarette. He’d been trying to cut back on the smoking, but he was 100% sure that Mike and El would break at least one of the rules, so he thought he should give himself a break today.

……..

Steve dropped Mike and El off at the main gates of the amusement park, leaving the two completely alone until he would pick them up later that evening. 

El stayed quiet, still getting nervous around large crowds, as they went through the process of buying their tickets and going through security. She held onto Mike’s hand tightly. 

Finally, they had made it into the actual park. El looked around, taking in her surroundings. She could see the tops of lots of rides and one particularly large rollercoaster. 

“Where did you want to go first?” Mike asked her. 

“Well, I don’t know… that one looks scary,” she said, pointing to the tall rollercoaster. 

“We should probably start out with something smaller, and then, if you like it, we can go on bigger rides,” Mike told her. 

El smiled, “okay.”

Mike led her towards a ride that had a bunch of little horses on it. 

“This is a carousel, or a merry-go-round if you like that better. It’s pretty much every person in the world’s first amusement park ride,” he said. 

“Not scary?” El asked. 

“Not at all,” Mike smiled down at her. 

El loved the ride. It was fun, and she especially loved that Mike had been there with her the whole time. They moved onto other rides, getting progressively more and more thrilling. El held in a laugh when Mike nearly vomited from riding the teacups. They took a little break to let him regain his bearings. 

A few hours had gone by, and El was starting to get hungry. Almost as if on cue, Mike suggested, “Wanna get lunch?” 

El grinned and nodded. They ate pizza from a little stand in the park, and they each had a cookie that El had packed for dessert. 

After lunch, they made their way around to more of the rides. Then, they finally reached the first rollercoaster of the day. 

“It’s really fun,” Mike promised her. “And this one is so mild, you probably won’t even scream.”

El smiled and nodded, but she was still a little nervous. 

It was after she was all strapped into the seat, and she could feel the coaster begin to move, that she felt the most afraid. But, she held onto Mike’s hand, and built up her courage. She could kill monsters, for God’s sake, this was just a little rollercoaster. 

A few moments later, El discovered the feeling Will had described. The feeling of riding a rollercoaster. 

And it was incredible.

El did scream, but not because she was afraid, because she was having so much fun. 

Once off the ride, Mike turned to her grinning, “Did you like that?” 

“Hell yes!” El said, throwing her arms around his neck and kissing him. (This action caused the pair to get a dirty look from a couple of parents, not that they noticed of course.) She pulled him towards the next ride. 

A few hours later, they had nearly been to every ride in the park, except for the biggest rollercoaster. Getting in line, El felt excited. She had loved every ride she had ridden. As for Mike, he didn’t like the rides that were spinning, but he didn’t want her to miss out on anything, so he rode them anyways. 

Just as they were about to get on the ride, however, the employees shut down the ride. 

“Sorry, everyone,” someone spoke over a loudspeaker. “There’s a big storm coming, so we’re going to have to close early today.”

El felt her heart sink, and Mike looked disappointed that she hadn’t gotten to ride every little thing. 

An hour later, they were in the car with Steve, who was driving them back to Hawkins. 

……..

It was about 5:00pm when Mike and El returned to the Hopper residence, waving Steve goodbye and thanking him for the ride. Mike could tell that El was disappointed, so what if they could get away with sneaking off for a little while longer? After all, they weren’t expected home for another four hours. 

“Wanna go get dinner at Benny’s?” Mike asked El.

She smiled, grateful for his quick thinking. She had been dreading having to come home early. “Yes.”

They had a very nice evening, eating at Benny’s and taking a long walk. Eventually though, they ended up at Mike’s house. They went through the door to the basement, not really wanting to have to talk to Mike’s mother, who was a little overwhelming for El to talk to .

El walked directly to the blanket fort, that had been altered to accommodate them as they had both grown several inches since it was first built, and Mike had wanted for there to be plenty of room for both of them. She sat down, leaving a space beside her for Mike to sit. 

“I had a great time today,” El told Mike, smiling at him lovingly. 

“Me too, I just wish we could have rode that last ride,” he said. 

“It’s okay, Mike. Maybe we could go back someday,” she suggested. 

“Yeah,” Mike smiled. “Happy birthday, El.”

Then, Mike leaned in, kissing El deeply. She snaked her arms around his neck, pulling them closer together as their mouths connected over and over again. 

As they continued their little make-out session, El lied down, so that Mike was practically lying on top of her. 

Sometimes it felt like it wasn’t enough, kissing like this. She wanted more, and by now, she knew that there was more. El could imagine taking the next steps with Mike, but she knew that they were still very young. She knew they would get there someday though, and that made her happy. And for now, Mike’s hands stayed right where they were on her sides, and she was content. 

……..

Later, Mike would walk El back to her house, holding hands and talking the whole way. This was everything she needed. This was her life. And maybe, just maybe, she could be a normal teenager. She still had her powers, but she didn’t really need them. 

They said goodbye for the night, and El watched as the love of her life walked away. 

She walked into the house at exactly 8:58pm, just shy of curfew, and fell asleep a few minutes later in her bed, unable to control the smile on her face.


	2. Not 3 inches anymore

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> El has a nightmare, and Mike sneaks into her bedroom for the first time ever. 
> 
> Pretty PG, despite what the description implies.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hii, this is very short, and I apologize. They won't all be this short, but this was just a cute little moment that popped into my head, and I had to write it! 
> 
> I forgot to put this in the description of the last chapter, but at this point in time, El and Hopper have moved into a new house (since the Mind Flayer destroyed the cabin, they upgraded). It's got two stories, which isn't really important, but just wanted to give you some more context.

October 1986

This wasn’t the first time a nightmare had woken El up out of her sleep. Not even close. It happened maybe three times a week, but that was an improvement to the way things used to be. 

She knew that it was worse when she was stressed, and she definitely had been stressed lately. She was finally caught up in schooling, and had started out as a Sophomore with her friends at Hawkins High School. She had opted for homeschooling last year, since she was still new to the education system. 

One thing El hadn’t been prepared for was the amount of pressure high school puts on you. Mike had told her how draining it was, and that even though he liked learning, he didn’t really like school all that much. That had made El nervous, but Mike had helped by telling her he would always be there if she needed him. 

In fact, Mike was just about the only thing keeping her sane right now. And of course, they were closer than ever, if that were even possible. The summer had been magical, no school, just hanging out with friends. And on top of that, no threats from the Upside Down. Mike and El had also learned how to better delegate their time with their friends. 

This was what El was thinking about as she laid in bed, staring at the ceiling after that horrid nightmare. She wiped at her face, feeling the wetness of her cheek from the tears she had been crying earlier when she’d first woken up.

Suddenly, El heard a small tapping noise coming from the window. She looked over to see her boyfriend, hanging on the outside of the window frame. She quickly ran over, opening the window gently as to not wake her father. 

“What are you doing here?” El asked as Mike climbed into her bedroom.

“You had a bad dream, right?” Mike replied. 

“Yeah, I did,” El answered, feeling Mike wrap his arms around her. This was something that they had begun to notice. Mike would often feel or see things that El was feeling. It started happening after they’d said “I love you”, almost as if they were connected on a spiritual level now. 

They stayed like that for a while, before El finally let go of him. 

“You’ve never snuck in my room before,” she said. 

“Is it.. okay? That I did?” 

“Yeah, it’s okay,” El smiled.

“Do you want me to go?” Mike asked.

“No. Stay… please,” El whispered, looking up into his eyes. And honestly, how could Mike say no to that?

Mike kissed her sweetly and El led them to her bed. 

Mike hesitated a bit. He knew they were going to do anything, but it still felt wrong of him to get in her bed while her dad slept a couple walls away. The door was not at the customary 3 inches, a rule that was becoming more and more obsolete as they grew. 

But El didn’t seem to have any problem with it, as she pulled Mike to lay down with her. 

El snuggled her head against Mike’s chest, positioning herself so she could hear his heart. Mike heard her breathing become slower as she fell asleep, and soon, he was drifting off as well.

They awoke to the sound of El’s alarm clock, signaling them that it was 7:00am. Mike sat bolt upright in a panic. 

“I have to get back home. My mom will kill me if she finds out I wasn’t home. And you’re dad will kill me if he finds out too,” he said nervously.

“Mike, it’s okay. Dad is still sleeping,” El told him, getting out of bed herself. 

Mike put his shoes and jacket back on, and turned towards the window. 

“Thanks for coming to see me,” El smiled gratefully at him. 

“Of course, I love you,” he answered, grinning back at her. 

“I love you, too,” El whispered, giving Mike a goodbye kiss. 

He then snuck back out the window, and El shut it, waving goodbye as he got on his bike and drove away. 

An hour later, when Hopper is pulling the cruiser out of the driveway, he swears he sees a bike tire mark in the mud that was fresh. But he ignores it, assuming it’s just paranoia.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! More to come soon!
> 
> Please send requests!


	3. The Future

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Joyce and Hopper finally tie the knot, and El and Mike have a conversation about their future.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a story that I've had planned out for MONTHS and I just now got to it. I hope you enjoy it!

January 1987

With the new year, had come new surprises for El. When the year turned from 1986 to 1987, she watched as her father got down on one knee to propose to Joyce. El had no idea that he was planning to do that, but it made her so happy. She was going to have a real family. A father, a mother, and two brothers. It was everything she’d ever wanted in a family. (For now at least, she had similar plans for her own future family…)

They didn’t feel the need to have a long engagement. Joyce and Hopper decided that they would go to the courthouse and get married, rather than having a whole ceremony. This had upset El, because she’d never been to a wedding and they looked amazing on TV. So they ended up compromising. They would throw a small reception, inviting only close friends and family. 

It was a week before the reception, and Mike, Lucas, Max, and Dustin had come over to the Hopper household to help Will and Joyce move in. Jonathan’s things were all at college with him. 

“Need some help?” El asked as the Mike and Will were carrying a few boxes up the stairs to Will’s new bedroom. 

“No, we’re all good,” Mike answered, appearing to not be struggling with the weight of the box.

“Speak for yourself,” Will whispered. El lightened Will’s box a little with her powers, and he smiled gratefully at her. 

Once they had gotten the boxes into Will’s room, the boys began to head back down the stairs for another trip, but El grabbed Mike’s arm, stopping him.

“What are we—?” Mike began to say as El pulled him into her room.

El mentally shut the door and shoved him against it, as she began to kiss him. 

Mike chuckled a little. “I thought I was invited over here to help will move in.”

“Yeah, but I just wanted you to myself for a minute. Besides, it’s been way too long since we’ve gotten a moment alone together,” El said, kissing him again. And it was true, it had been snowing a lot and it was too cold for them to go anywhere they usually went. They were confined to their own houses, which were filled with family members who were definitely nosy. 

A few minutes passed by, and they were now sitting on El’s bed when her bedroom door suddenly opened. 

Expecting it to be one of their friends, Mike almost told whoever had opened the door to go away, but his eyes widened a little to see that it was not one of their friends, but it was Joyce. 

Joyce didn’t say anything at first, just looked at the two with raised eyebrows and a smirk. 

“Um…” Mike couldn’t think of anything to say to the woman who’d known him since he was little, as she clearly caught him making out with his girlfriend. 

“Hopper told me to come check on you two to make sure you weren’t doing what he thought you were doing… I’m going to tell him you were organizing some of Will’s stuff… Don’t make me lie again,” she told them, shaking her head as she left them alone. 

“You have the coolest stepmom ever,” Mike said, making El giggle. 

“C’mon. The others are probably wondering what we’re doing too,” El pulled Mike by the hand.

They went into Will’s room, where the others were now unpacking Will’s things.

“See they were off sucking face,” Dustin announced as they entered the room.

“How did you even know that’s what we were doing?” Mike asked, annoyed.

“Because that’s what you’re ALWAYS doing,” Max answered. “I swear if you guys don’t make out at least once in one day, you’ll spontaneously combust.”

Mike rolled his eyes, and they got back to work. 

……..

Finally, the day El had been so excited for had finally arrived. She wouldn’t have believed it was even possible, if not for her done up hair and her pale blue dress that hit just above her knees. 

They were having the reception in the only hotel in Hawkins. It was a nice place, despite it’s outward appearance. 

El sat at the table at the very front of the hall, as everyone they loved filed in. In this crowd, there were police officers from the station, women from around town that had gotten to know Joyce well, and of course, the core group of people that knew what secrets Hawkins kept. 

El waited anxiously for Mike to arrive, the seat next to her saved specifically for him. 

That had been a pretty significant argument in the Hopper household. The original plan was for the five members of the family, Jim, Joyce, Jonathan, Will, and El, to sit together at the front. But El, very stubbornly, had requested that her boyfriend HAD to sit by her, because it was a wedding, and that is so ROMANTIC. This of course, had enraged Hopper, and Joyce had to talk him down. They were still on the fence about it, when Jonathan requested that Nancy sit with him, as well. After that, they’d decided to allow both Mike and Nancy to sit with them. “It’s just a party,” Joyce had told Hopper. 

Mike finally arrived, Nancy coming in with him, and they both made their way up to the table. El was happy to see that Mike was wearing a grey suit that complimented her dress very nicely. He gave her a quick peck as he sat down. 

Will rolled his eyes. He was going to have to get used to seeing their lovey-dovey displays of affection now that he was living with El. 

Fifteen minutes later, Joyce and Hopper arrived and the party got started. 

El was amazed by how beautiful everything looked, and how fancy the food was. She was a little mad that Hopper had refused to let her take one sip of champagne, but Dustin ended up stealing a glass and shared it with the whole party. 

Making Hopper very relieved, El did not catch the bouquet, but Nancy did, which led to some slightly awkward tension between her and Jonathan. (What Nancy didn’t know, was that Jonathan was already saving up for a ring.)

El’s favorite part of the evening, however, was the dancing. She loved dancing with her friends, and she even got to dance with Hopper. But her absolute favorite thing was dancing with Mike during the slow songs. 

They were dancing to the last song of the night, El’s arms wrapped around Mike’s neck, as they swayed back and forth.

“I hope our wedding is this beautiful,” El said, not thinking. Her eyes went wide when she realized what she had said.

Before she could rephrase or say anything else, though, Mike replied, “It will be, cuz it’ll be you and me forever… and that’s all I could ever want.”

El smiled. They hadn’t really talked about the future like this before. “So we’ll get married, and get a house, and then—“ she started. 

“We’ll have a couple kids, and they’ll be gorgeous cuz they’ll look just like you,” Mike interrupted. 

El felt her heart fluttering in her chest just thinking about it. “Since when are you so eager to talk about the future?” El asked him. 

“Well, for one, we’re alone, and we so rarely get that. Two, we’ve been together for a long time now and we probably should talk about it more. And three, I am completely, undeniably, and irresistibly in love with you, and I’m not afraid of the fact anymore.”

“How did I get the most perfect boyfriend in the world?” El grinned up at him. 

Mike didn’t answer, but leaned down for a soft kiss. 

“So when do you think we’ll get married?” El asked. 

“Hey, you’re supposed to be surprised when I ask you! I can’t tell you all of my plans,” Mike said. 

“What about a ballpark?” 

Mike thought for a moment, “Well… I just turned sixteen, and you’re still fifteen, so we’ve still got a while, but… three to five years or whenever the time feels right?”

El smiled, “I can live with that… I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

Mike began kissing El again, before Hopper shouted from a few feet away. “Hey! No making out in public!”

They complied, but they both knew when the night was over, they would find a non-public place to have a few minutes to themselves. 

Neither of them would ever forget their conversation that night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! And yes, I will be getting to your requests as soon as possible. I've been doing really well keeping my stories updated the last couple weeks, so I'm hoping it won't take me too long!
> 
> Requests are still open!


	4. Growing Up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Requested: Mike taking care of El on her period 
> 
> Pure fluff, cuddles, and the sappiest Mike Wheeler you'll ever see

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two in one day!! I'm on a roll! But this one is like a mini-ficlet, so ??? Anyways, this one is very short, but the next one has an actual storyline to it. AND it involves more of the other characters, so hopefully that makes up for this one being so tiny.

March 1987

Mike was getting pretty used to El being moody every once in a while. They’d been together for two and a half years, and he knew almost everything about her. El never explicitly told him whenever she was on her period, but he was usually able to tell by her mood. Mike didn’t know exactly when it started, but he’d started noticing it shortly after the battle of starcourt. 

This month was worse than usual. 

He’d noticed on Friday that El was in a lot of pain, as she kept holding her stomach a lot during class. He’d reached for her hand and squeezed it comfortingly, and she’d smiled back at him. He prided himself in being able to read her so well. 

So when he woke up on Saturday to his mother telling him that El was on the phone for him, he knew something wasn’t right. He’d practically ran to the phone, skipping stairs and answering, “Hello?”

“Mike,” El said, relieved to hear his voice. 

“You okay?” Mike asked.

“Um, yeah. I wanted to ask you for a favor… could you go to the store and buy me some things, then come over. I’m home alone today, and I know we were gonna do something, but I really don’t feel well…”

“Yeah, of course, what did you need from the store?” 

………

Mike threw the plastic bag with El’s, um, things in the passenger seat of his car, unable to comprehend exactly how he got into this situation. 

He had been completely terrified to go into the store and buy a box of tampons, but hey, at least he did it, right? He also got El some of her favorite snacks, because he knew she would love it. 

The drive to El’s house was short, but he took it even faster, wanting to get the supplies to El as soon as possible. 

He pulled into the driveway, and quickly ran up to the door. He opened it without knocking, a habit he’d gotten into after spending a lot of time there. 

“El?” he called out.

“In my room!” El answered.

He walked up the stairs to find El laying in her bed in sweats and her hair pulled up in a messy ponytail. 

“Hey, I got your stuff,” Mike said, handing the bag over. 

El looked into the bag, “You got me candy and Eggos, too?”

“Of course. I figured you’d want some snacks,” Mike had an older sister, so he knew how to make El feel better. 

“Thank you,” El said, getting up to hug him. 

They spent the whole day snuggling and watching TV on the couch. El shared some of the snacks Mike brought, and it was the perfect lazy day. 

“Sorry, I know you wanted to go do something fun today,” El apologized. “And I look like shit.”

“No, El, as long as I’m with you, it doesn’t matter what we’re doing. And you do not look like shit. You’re just as beautiful as always,” Mike kissed her forehead.

“And um, thanks for being so… mature… about me and my box of tampons. You really are the best boyfriend ever,” El said. 

Mike chuckled a little. “Yeah, well, I figure I better get used to it now if I’m gonna spend the rest of my life with you. We’re older, and I can handle the box of tampons.”

El giggled, which became laughter when Mike started to tickle her, ending up with him laying on top of her. And of course, that led to kissing.

Unfortunately for them, it was right when they were making out on the couch that Will came home from hanging out with Dustin.

“Oh my god!” he yelled. “Do you guys ever stop?!” 

El and Mike burst into laughter as he ran up the stairs to his own room. At least it was only Will, it could’ve been a lot worse. Mike was technically not allowed to be over when no one was home. Joyce might cover for them, but if Hopper knew they were alone today… well, let’s just say it wouldn’t be pretty. 

“I’ve gotta go,” Mike said. “My mom told me I’ve been missing too many family dinners lately.”

“Okay, I’ll see you tomorrow?” El asked even though she knew the answer. Mike and El rarely went a day without seeing each other, so there was always the promise of tomorrow. 

“Yeah, first thing,” he answered, smiling at her as he grabbed his coat. 

El leaned up to kiss him goodbye. “I love you.”

“I love you more.”

“As if.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Leave requests in the comments!! Or ya know, just tell me things, like how are you? Did this request temporarily relieve the mileven depression we all have?


	5. Just a Scare

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Max has a problem and goes to El for help. 
> 
> El makes a decision about her and Mike's near future. Hopper doesn't like it at all. 
> 
> Rated Strong PG-13 (TV-14) (suggestive themes)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so this chapter is kind of a play on a pretty common prompt that I've seen on a lot of one-shot collections: a pregnancy scare. However, I think that prompt is a little overdone, so I tweaked it a little. I'm hoping this one is a little more original.
> 
> I guess this is my official WARNING: This chapter is centered around a lot of discussion of sexual themes. Nothing explicit, smutty, or even close to that. It might seem even a little silly for me to even put a warning here because it's really nothing serious, in my own personal opinion. BUT I do know some people who are uncomfortable with reading anything involving mentions of sex, so if that's you, read at your own discretion. But really... it's not bad at all.

November 1987

Max was being quieter than usual, and El was worried. When she and Max had these sleepovers, Max was usually very energetic and excited. Today, on the other hand, Max hadn’t said much.

“You okay, Max?” El finally asked.

Completely ignoring the question, Max replied, “Do you know why I wanted to come over today?”

“Because we needed some girl time,” El answered. 

“Well, that’s not the only reason… I wanted to talk to you about something…” Max admitted. 

“What is it?” El asked, sitting up nervously. 

“Lucas and I… we sorta started, you know, having sex, and—“ 

“WHAT?” El shouted. 

“Shut up, someone could hear us!” Max told her. “Anyways, I’m late… and I’ve been late before, but never… this late. I was supposed to start like a week and a half ago.”

“Oh my god, Max… have you taken a pregnancy test yet?” El asked her. 

“No, I’m so scared, El. I can’t have a baby. I’m not even seventeen yet… I was kinda hoping you’d be there with me when I finally did take a test,” Max turned to her friend, pleading with her. 

“Of course I will,” El said, not even hesitating. “You’re my best friend.”

……..

“When did it happen?” El asked as they walked home from the store, Max’s tests in a plastic bag. 

“A couple months ago, we didn’t plan on it or anything, it sorta just… happened,” Max admitted. 

“Have you talked to Lucas about it?” El pried. 

“No, I don’t want to scare him until I know for sure.”

El nodded, understanding, then said, “If it were me, I would want Mike to know, and to be there when I took a test..”

Max was silent for a moment. “I don’t know what to do, El.” She had stopped walking. 

“I don’t want to tell you what to do, Max. I’ve told you what I would do. You have to make that decision for yourself…” 

“I… I think I’m going to go see him,” Max said, looking at the ground. 

“Hey,” El touched Max on the shoulder, trying to reassure her. “Whatever happens, I’ll always be there for you.”

“Thanks, El,” Max hugged her. 

…….. 

El came back to her house, letting Max go off to talk with Lucas. 

“Hey, El,” Joyce said, as El entered the kitchen, where Joyce was preparing dinner. “I thought Max was staying over tonight?”

“She was, but she had a thing to do… um, can we talk for a minute?” El asked nervously. 

Joyce looked at El confused about her unusual fidgeting. “Of course, sweetie, what’s going on?”

“I… have a friend, who might be pregnant. And it’s just got me thinking, you know, what if that was me?” El admitted.

“But it’s not… right?” Joyce asked. 

“No, no, not me. I haven’t… Mike and I haven’t… it’s not me. But I’m worried about when it actually does happen,” El stuttered. 

“You don’t want to end up in a situation like your friend,” Joyce said. 

“Exactly,” El confirmed. 

“Honey, are you ready to start having sex? Because if you’re not ready, you don’t need to worry about it yet,” Joyce told her. 

El hesitated, looking down at the floor. This wasn’t exactly a fun conversation to be having. “Almost… Sometimes I feel like it’ll just happen, you know? I mean, when we’re alone, Mike and I can get… a little carried away. I just want to be prepared if it does happen soon.”

Joyce nodded, understanding. “Well, sweetheart, I’m really proud of you for being responsible and coming to me with this. Here’s what we are gonna do. I’m gonna take you to the doctor, and we’ll get you a prescription for birth control. You’ll take it every day, and then you won’t have to worry about it.”

……..

An hour later, El got a phone call from Max. 

“El!” she yelled when El picked up the phone.

“Yeah?” El asked, slightly in pain from the loudness of Max’s voice.

“It was a false alarm! I took three tests and they were all negative! And Lucas and I had a nice long talk. He was really sweet about it.”

“Aw Max, I’m so happy for you,” El said. 

“We should all celebrate or something,” Max suggested.

“Max, do you really want any of our other friends to know about this?” 

“Well, they don’t have to know why we’re celebrating,” Max answered. Both girls burst into laughter.

“You aren’t going to tell Mike are you?” Max asked. 

“Well, I might have to when I tell him I’m going on birth control.”

“You are? El, that’s kind of a big step…” Max said.

“I know, it’ll still be a while before we do anything, I’m not ready yet… but I’ll be prepared for when I am ready,” El told her. 

“That’s smart… Well, I gotta go. Lucas and I are gonna go get ice cream.”

“Have fun!”

……..

One week later, Hopper was walking the aisles of Melvald’s waiting for the prescription his wife had sent him for. She didn’t work there anymore, since Hopper had hired her into the police station. 

“Here you go, sir,” the man behind the counter said, handing him a white paper bag with the prescription in it. Hopper carried the bag out to the cruiser, and set it in the passenger seat. 

He drove the five minutes back home, parked in the driveway, and grabbed the bag, noticing the name on it for the first time. 

Jane Hopper

Nosy as he ever was, Hopper opened the bag to find birth control pills. His nostrils flared angrily as he thought about Mike defiling his daughter. He got out of the cruiser, slammed the door, and went to find Joyce. 

He found her sitting in the living room, reading a book.

“What the hell is this?” he asked, holding up the bag. 

“Hop,” Joyce stood up, knowing this was going to get ugly.

“I’ll kill him. If he touches her one time, I’ll kill him,” Hopper said.

“Jim! El made the decision for herself, Mike had nothing to do with it,” Joyce told him.

“Like hell he didn’t. What else is this for?” 

“Hopper, she just wants to be prepared and—,” Joyce began.

“She’s only sixteen years old!” Hopper interrupted.

“Yeah, and how old were you?” Joyce fired back.

“Thats.. that’s not important…” 

“You were younger, and so was I. You can’t be a hypocrite about this. Hop, she’s growing up. You have to accept that. And remember what I told you about dealing with teenagers?” Joyce asked.

“Not to yell at them or tell them what to do because they’ll rebel,” Hopper recited. 

“Exactly, they’re going to do it someday, Hop. Whether you like it or not… And just so you know, El told me with her own words that they hadn’t done anything yet. She’s got a good head on her shoulders. Trust her. And Mike. They’re good kids, Hop. And do not, I repeat, do not say anything to El about this. I’m sure it was hard enough for her to come to me with it.”

Hopper ran a hand down his face. Parenting is exhausting. 

……..

Mike and El were sitting on the couch in Mike’s basement, doing homework. It had been a while since either of them had talked, but it was a nice silence that didn’t need to be filled. However, they were alone, and El had something to tell him. 

“I started taking birth control pills,” El blurted casually.

Mike, taken aback by her sudden revelation, started to say something, but began coughing instead. 

El patted him on the back, “You okay?”

“Uh, yeah. I think so…” Mike finally said. “Um… you’re on birth control?”

“Yeah. Long story short, I wanted to be prepared. So I talked with Joyce, and she got me the pills,” El left out the part about Max. Best friends kept each others secrets. 

“So… what does this mean exactly… for us?” Mike asked hesitantly.

“It means that we can do whatever we want, whenever we want…” El answered, but seeing the shocked look on Mike’s face, she rephrased, “Not… right this second, of course… when we’re both ready…”

“Oh-okay…”

“I just thought you should know, since you’re technically the reason why I would need them,” El teased.

Mike laughed a little. “So… when exactly do you think it’s gonna happen?” 

“I don’t know, honestly. All I know is that for the past couple months it feels like… we were headed somewhere, like we couldn’t get enough of each other, like we needed more,” El said.

“Yeah, I know what you mean,” Mike nodded.

“I think we should just let it happen whenever it feels right, you know?” El told him.

“Yeah… it’s kinda scary to think about though,” Mike admitted.

“But it’ll be you and me, together. We’ll figure it out,” El said, then she leaned closer to him and whispered into his ear, “And besides, Mike Wheeler, I’ve already given myself to you in every other way.”

El leaned back away from his ear, giving him a soft kiss on the lips, before returning to her homework as if nothing had even happened. Mike was dumbstruck. 

……..

Hopper had been angry for three whole days before he acted on it. He came home from work to find that his daughter was home alone with Mike Wheeler, which had of course, enraged him. He wanted to say something so bad, and then he remembered what Joyce had said. Not to talk to El about it. 

But she never said not to say anything to Mike.

So, Hopper went into the house calmly to find the two sitting on the couch watching one of El’s favorite soaps, seemingly very innocent. (He didn’t miss the fact that Mike’s T-shirt was on backwards though).

“Hey kids,” he said friendly enough. 

They greeted him, and he took off his hat.

“Mike,” he got his attention, “come here for a minute.”

Mike did as he was told, following Hopper out of El’s earshot. 

Then Hopper rounded on him.

“I’m well-aware of your intentions with my daughter, and I’ve got to say this. If you hurt her in any way or you try something she doesn’t like, I will hunt you down, and kick your ass. You got that?”

Mike looked scared, which gave Hopper more power against him. But then the almost-seventeen year old spoke up, “I’d rather kill myself than hurt her. I love her. Why do you always think I’m the bad guy?”

Hopper had to admit, he did not expect that. He thought for a minute. It seemed like Mike and El were pretty solid, a package deal, some might say. The teenager standing in front of him was likely the man he’d be handing his daughter off to on her wedding day, the father of his grandchildren. And for the first time, Hopper felt regret for being so hard on him all the time. 

“Jeez, kid. I know you’re a good guy, and I’m sorry for being hard on ya. El’s my second chance at having a kid, you know? And sometimes, I can be overprotective. Just… keep your shenanigans away from me, okay?”

Mike looked a little surprised at Hopper’s remorse, and had to stifle back a laugh, but answered, “Yes, sir.”

Mike went back to the couch, and Hopper went to the kitchen. 

He needed a drink. 

……..

As for Mike and El, they would take their time, waiting until the moment was just right. It would be after Mike’s seventeenth birthday, and it was everything they’d ever wanted.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you liked this one! Let me know in the comments!


	6. Ring Money

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Karen finds out that Mike is saving up for an engagement ring.
> 
> Rating: PG ish (one swear and teeny tiny suggestion)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey there, I haven't updated this in a while since I've been focusing more on "Wanderlust" (next chapter is almost finished so stay tuned), check that out if you haven't already. I had this little idea, and although there is no Mileven interaction, I think that this is the most in love Mike Wheeler has ever been so... yeah. Hope you enjoy!

May 1988

Karen had first met El a few months after the events of 1984, not that she knew anything about what had happened then. Even after meeting El, she was a bit confused about where this girl had suddenly appeared from. It was obvious that Mike was giving her the bare minimum of information, but Karen knew her son well enough to know that he was too stubborn and wouldn’t tell her unless he wanted to, so she didn’t pester him too much. It was definitely difficult, though. 

What Mike did tell her, was that El had been adopted by the chief and that she was being homeschooled because the chief hadn’t told many people yet and she was a little behind in school. It was peculiar, although not as peculiar as the girl herself. Karen noticed that El had a tendency to speak differently from her friends, taking caution with every sentence and sticking to a more basic vocabulary. El wore a lot of clothes that were too big for her, and she wondered if the chief had even taken her shopping. 

Nothing, however, was quite as strange as the way her son was so taken by her. His mood shifted when she was around, and he talked to her in a more calming voice than she’d ever heard him use before. It took maybe a half hour for Karen to realize that Mike and El were actually together, as in a relationship. At first, she thought it was cute that her son had finally taken an interest in girls. But their relationship turned into something she never saw coming. 

Karen had expected for Mike to be like Nancy, who during middle school and early high school had a few boyfriends for a couple months at a time, then she’d move on, never really getting serious with any of them. Nancy’s first long-term boyfriend had been Steve, and that had only lasted one year. 

Karen could hardly believe it when six months had gone by and Mike and El were still together. Then a year. Then two. Then suddenly it was the end of their junior year of high school and they’d been together for over three years. So yes, she knew that they were getting pretty serious, but she did not expect to find a large stash of cash in Mike’s bedroom, simply labeled: Ring money.

She had putting away some of Mike’s laundry in his closet, when a t-shirt fell off the hanger and landed on the floor. Karen had leaned down to get it, when the small tin can caught her eye. Mike was out, she wasn’t sure where, but she was sure El was involved. So she didn’t hesitate pulling it out and looking in it.

Mike had nearly a thousand dollars kept in this little tin can, and Karen could hardly breathe. She knew her son was absolutely infatuated with El, but this? This was too much, too soon. 

Karen sat there staring for a moment before a horrible feeling came over her. He wasn’t going to listen to her. And once he turned eighteen, there was legally no way for her to stop them if they wanted to get married. Mike’s eighteenth birthday was in less than a year. And she had a feeling they wouldn’t want to waste much time. 

Begrudgingly, she placed the tin back in his closet, and went back to putting away laundry. But she knew she had to say something. 

……..

Mike came home late that night, he’d called earlier to let his mother know that he was having dinner at El’s house, and she’d stayed up to wait for him. 

Karen sat by the door, and was there when he came home. 

Mike walked in, then saw his mother sitting there. “Did you wait up for me?” he asked her. 

She took in her son’s appearance for a moment, hair a little more disheveled than usual and shirt appeared to be on backwards. She didn’t need to be rocket scientist to figure out where he’d been all evening. 

“I wanted to talk to you about something,” she finally answered. 

“Okay…” Mike sat next to her, looking apprehensive. 

“I—um, I was putting your laundry away and I found your stash of ring money,” Karen revealed.

Mike had not been expecting that, “Oh…”

“Honey, I just… I don’t want you to rush into anything. You’re only seventeen and you’re already saving up for an engagement ring? It’s just too fast, and don’t want you to make that mistake. She’s your first girlfriend ever, and I don’t think that it’s possible for anyone to find the person they’re meant to be with at such a young age,” Karen said.

Mike sighed, but he didn’t seem angry. (Karen could admit that was one good thing about having El in his life. Mike’s anger management was ten times better than before El). 

“Mom, did you know that I met El about a year before we started to officially date? I don’t think I’ve ever told you about how I met her. I can’t tell you the whole story, it’s too long and confusing, but I guess I can give you the highlights. Anyways, I was out with my friends and we ran into her in the rain. She was cold and scared, so I brought her back here and gave her a change of clothes and helped her out. You didn’t know that she was even here. We became friends and she saved my life. And I don’t mean in a metaphorical sense, I mean it literally. She saved my life. I almost fell into the quarry, and… and she saved me. Later that night, we were… hanging out, and I kissed her. I think I kinda surprised her. Then, she… had to go away for a year, and I didn’t get to see her. I didn’t even know if she was okay.”

Mike had tears in his eyes, and his mother resisted the urge to hug him. She was too into the story, listening to Mike pour his heart out for the first time. 

“But then the chief took her in, and we were able to start seeing each other again. We went to the Snowball together in the eighth grade,” Mike smiled at the memory. “That’s when we first started dating for real. I kissed her that night too. She’s saved my life time and time again. She’s the strongest, bravest, most incredible person I know. And I know you think that we’re too serious, and I get that. But I also think that you know that El isn’t just some girl that I met and fell for. I think that you’ve known for a while that El isn’t just a normal girl. I can’t tell you everything about her. Maybe someday she could tell you herself, but I’ll let her decide. Mom, I’m going to marry El someday. And I promise that I’ll at least wait until after we finish high school before I propose. We aren’t rushing into this. We’ve talked about the future and everything for a long time now. And we aren’t making a mistake. El is my soulmate. I am so in love with her that I would do literally anything for her. Anything. I love her so much that I blurted it out when I was fourteen in front of all my friends, and they still give me shit about it. She means everything to me. She is the most important thing in the world to me. So yeah, I’ve been saving up for a ring. And I’m going to buy one, and when I do, I want you there to support me.”

Karen couldn’t believe how freely Mike was telling her all this. She put an arm around her son and hugged him. 

“Okay. I can do that,” she said. And she could. Because her son really was in love, and from the look in his eyes, she didn’t have anything to worry about. 

Because Mike and El were meant to be together. Forever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! As always, if you liked this story, let me know in the comments! Comments are a writer's fuel!
> 
> I've currently got 3 fics going, but I'm mostly focusing on "Wanderlust." I'm going to try to keep this fic updated once every two or three weeks, but my "Wanderlust" chapters will likely be posted every 6-9 days. :)


	7. Senior Year Stress

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mike and El apply to college!
> 
> Rating: PG-13 (TV-14)

October 1988

The Hopper/Byers household was especially calm. It was fall, so the weather was mild and there weren’t many kids out on the streets like they normally were because it was a little cooler than usual. It was also calm because Hopper and Joyce were both at work, Jonathan at college, and Will was working on a history project at the library with Dustin. 

This meant that Mike and El had exactly two hours of alone time before someone would come home, and well, let’s face it, they were going to make the most of that time. 

They were in El’s room, Mike lying on top of El, they’re backpacks on the floor by the foot of the bed. 

El had her hands in Mike’s hair, pulling his mouth to hers over and over again. Mike ran one of his hands along El’s hip and up her ribcage, making her shiver a little at the cold touch.

They never got enough of this. Each other. Of course, they didn’t need to be physical all the time, they’re love was more than just sexual attraction. But how often did an empty house present itself to the two? Rarely. With family around, they could never get too caught up in what they were doing. Sometimes they would be able to sneak away while their families were distracted or asleep, but nothing was better than an empty house. 

El was unbuttoning Mike’s shirt, when she saw that they’d left the door wide open. No one was home, but if someone should show up early, they might see something that can’t be unseen. So, El shut the door with the tiniest flick of her head, locking it too for good measure as she continued what she was doing. 

The rest of the house was quiet, and no one came home early to find the two seventeen-year-olds.

Will was the first to come home, having finished his project. When he walked through the door, he found Mike and El in the living room, filling out various college applications. It was a seemingly very innocent scene, but Will knew better. 

They both looked up at him when he came in, El being the first to greet him, “Hey Will.”

She looked too happy, they both did. Will rolled his eyes.

“You guys are disgusting. I hope you know that,” Will teased, but he was still a little grossed out by the idea.

“We’re not even touching,” Mike said, gesturing to the two foot space between himself and El.

“Oh, and I’m sure that’s exactly where you were an hour again,” Will argued. He enjoyed making fun of them. El was his sister now, and she needed to get the full experience of what it’s like to have an annoying brother. 

“Will,” she eyed him threateningly. Even after everything, Will could still be a little terrified of her when she looked at him a certain way. He knew what she was capable of, even if he also knew she would never actually hurt him. 

“Okay, I’ll go… but you’re not fooling anyone,” he chimed as he left them alone again. 

El and Mike returned to their college applications. 

El was sitting there, staring at the essay question for a solid five minutes. 

What is the greatest challenge you’ve ever had to face?

El wondered about that for a while. Living in the complete and terrible isolation of the lab under Dr. Brenner’s regime for twelve years? Running away from said lab? Killing the demogorgon? Being kept away from Mike for 353 days? Losing her mother to MKUltra mind control experiments? Helping her “sister” hunt down her enemies in Chicago? Closing the gate? Fighting Billy in the sauna test? Being attacked by the Mind Flayer in it’s fleshy form? Overusing her powers to save her friends and then having to wait MONTHS before they came back? Almost dying more times than she could count? 

None of these would make any sense on a college application.

El sighed and pushed the question away. She’d get to it later. 

But sitting there, she couldn’t help but think about everything she’d been through. She was incredibly lucky to even be going to college. 

But then there was Mike. Where did either of them even want to go? Would they end up on opposite ends of the country? Could they make the long distance work? Could El even stand to be away from Mike for that long?

“Where are you applying to again?” she asked him. 

“Purdue, University of Indianapolis, University of Chicago, and Ohio State,” he answered. 

El looked at her own applications. She was applying to the University of Indianapolis and Purdue, but what if Mike got into Chicago or Ohio State? What if she didn’t even get in to her two choices?

“You okay over there?” Mike asked her. He could read her so well. He always knew when she was in distress. 

“Just thinking about next year and how we could end up in different places…” she admitted.

“Hey, don’t worry about that, okay? Whatever happens, we’ll make it work,” Mike said, reaching for her hand and lacing their fingers together. 

“But what if I go to Indianapolis and you end up in Ohio? Or what if I don’t even get into college and you go off to Chicago without me? I just don’t want to be that far away from you,” El told him. 

“El, when we know what schools we got into, we can make the decision together. I’m not going to go to Chicago or Ohio if you don’t want me to,” Mike comforted her. 

“Mike, I don’t want to hold you back. If you really want to go, then you should go,” El replied.

“El, I want to go wherever you are. I don’t care where I go to college. I’m just applying to these places because my mom wants me to. I want to be where you are,” Mike said. 

“You know, you’re too sweet for your own good,” El giggled, as she leaned in to kiss him. 

……..

December 1988

El was nervous. She couldn’t stop worrying. Mike had already received two acceptance letters from Chicago and Ohio. Neither of them had heard from the two Indiana universities. This was the source of El’s current anxiety. 

She could tell that Mike was worried too. Not about the letters, about her. He was spending all of their shared classes holding her hand beneath the desk, and occasionally giving her encouraging smiles. 

She appreciated him so much, especially when she was this stressed. 

With their senior year already almost half-way done, the Party had been spending every second together. So much so, that their families had all reminded them that they would need spend time with them too. 

Karen in particular had bugged Mike to stay home a couple times a week at least. Mike settled for this, as long as El could come too, to which his mother had agreed with an eye-roll because those kids were too much.

These days, Mike and El spent two nights of the week at Mike’s house for dinner, two nights at El’s house for dinner, two nights out somewhere with the party, and one night by themselves. But the two were always together, never willing to separate. 

Even though Mike was adamant that he and El would end up at the same college, she could tell he still feared having to leave her. Worst case scenario, El stuck in Hawkins and Mike off at one of his choices. El guessed she could probably go to the community college here in Hawkins if she didn’t get in anywhere, but that still left miles between the two, and that was just… unacceptable. 

College was still months away, but senior year was passing by so quickly, it felt like they were going full speed at the time when they should be slowing down. 

Finally, the last day of school before winter break, El got her answer.

She and Mike pulled into her driveway, and ran inside to get out of the frosty air. 

“Hey kids,” Joyce said from her spot on the couch, where she was sitting and reading a book. 

“Hey Joyce,” they answered, almost in unison. 

“You’ve got some mail on the kitchen counter, sweetie,” Joyce told El.

El’s heart began to race as she went to the counter and picked up two envelopes. One from Purdue. One from University of Indianapolis.

“Oh my god,” she whispered, before turning to Mike. 

“Open them,” he said, smiling at her.

El looked back at the two letters, unable to move her fingers. She looked up at Mike again. “I can’t.”

“Yes you can, El.. You’ve been waiting for this for weeks,” Mike replied.

“Wait, what about yours? If I got mine today, then you might’ve gotten yours,” El said.

“Yeah… so?” 

“So, let’s open them together,” El suggested. “Let’s run over to your house and get them and then we’ll open them together.”

Mike sighed, but nodded. “Okay, let’s go.”

The two ran back to the front door hand-in-hand, El telling Joyce that they would be right back.

Mike drove them back to his house, and they went inside, where Karen was talking on the phone.

“Hey, I thought you were having dinner at El’s tonight,” Karen said when she saw them.

“Yeah, we are… it’s just, did I get any mail today?” Mike asked.

“Yes, over there,” she answered, gesturing to the counter.

Mike grabbed the two letters, and pulled El back out to his car. 

They sat there for a minute. 

“You first,” El whispered. “Please?”

Mike couldn’t resist her puppy eyes, so he nodded and began to open the first letter from University of Indianapolis. El waited with bated breath as Mike’s eyes traveled across the page.

“I got in,” he said. “Your turn.”

“No, wait,” El pointed to his other letter. “You have to open both, then I’ll open mine.”

Mike rolled his eyes, but there was a slight smile on his face, and he tore the envelope from Purdue open. He read the letter.

“Two for two,” Mike said, smiling at her. 

El tried to smile, after all, him getting in got them halfway there. But now it was completely up to her whether they got to go to college together or not. Her hands were shaking as she began to open the first envelope from Indianapolis. 

She reread the first sentence seven times before she believed it. 

She was in.

She smiled at Mike, grinning ear to ear. 

“I got in,” she said happily. 

“Open the other one,” Mike told her, grinning back, happy to see her nerves melt away.

El was less reluctant this time. After all, she was already accepted at one of her schools.

A second acceptance.

“Two for two!” El repeated, giggling when Mike hugged her, kissing her on the cheek. She turned her head to kiss him properly.

“I knew you could do it,” Mike smiled. 

That night, at El’s house, Hopper and Joyce helped them celebrate the acceptances by ordering in food. (No offense to Joyce, but her food wasn’t the greatest.)

Later, when they found a moment alone, they snuggled up together, knowing that their future, wherever they decided to go, was bright. 

“I love you so much,” El whispered.

“I love you even more,” Mike answered immediately.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey there! So I know I said I was focusing on Wanderlust, but I had this idea, and writing Wanderlust is takes a lot of extra effort lol. The next chapter of that is coming soon, though. Hopefully by the end of the weekend. 
> 
> Also, I'm not necessarily an advocate for following your significant other to college. I honestly think that it's a bad idea, no offense to anyone who has done that. Everyone is different. I just wouldn't. BUT this is Mike and El we're talking about sooo... I do what I want hahaa


	8. Heartbreak

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Requested: Mike and Max making amends 
> 
> Altered the request a little, but hope this still meets expectations. :)
> 
> Rated Teen & Up for underage drinking

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi there, sorry that I've not been updating this for a few months (i think it's been since November???) 
> 
> Anyways, this is going to be a rare chapter in this collection that isn't necessarily about mileven, which I know is what y'all are here for, but this was requested and also I think fits into the timeline nicely. So yes, this chapter is a little different from the usual, but we'll be back to our regularly scheduled programming with the next chapter. ;)
> 
> PS this is the first update in the ST fandom I've done since the season 4 teaser, and yes, I am sobbing bc my man Hopper is alive. (i mean, we been knew, but still !!!)

October 1989

Max and El sat in their dorm room at University of Indianapolis. Out of the six party members, three of them had ended up together at the University of Indianapolis, Max, Mike, and El. Will was in New York. Dustin and Lucas were both in Chicago. It was weird being so far from everyone, but they were all learning what it was like to be on their own.

“Hey, Max, Mike is planning on coming over later, so do you think you could—?” El started.

“Stay away for a few hours. Yeah, yeah. I’ll leave you to your alone time, but you’re both coming to get food later, right?” Max asked. 

Something weird had happened since starting college. Max and Mike were starting to get to be really close friends. They’d been friends for a long time, but now they were almost as close as Mike was with all the guys. It made El happy to see them getting along so well. 

“Yes, we’ll be there,” El answered, “Well, I’ve got to go to class.. See ya later, Maxie!”

El swung her backpack over her shoulder and left Max alone. Max was just as surprised by her friendship with Mike as El was. Things with Mike had been rocky for a while, but Max still remembered the day he had made amends. 

……..

August 1985 

It had been maybe a month after the battle. All six members of the party were in Mike’s basement, eating snacks and playing board games all day. El, Will, and Dustin had to leave, and Max was going to walk home with Lucas, but Lucas needed to find a comic book that he’d let Mike borrow, so he’d gone up to Mike’s room to look for it, leaving Max and Mike alone in the basement. 

“Hey,” Mike had said awkwardly. 

“Hi…” Max replied hesitantly.

“Um… so I know that I can be a huge asshole sometimes,” Mike began.

“Yeah,” Max agreed. 

“But.. I just wanted to say… It was really selfish of me to keep El to myself earlier this summer. I should’ve let her be friends with you and let you guys hang out more. I was stupid… and…. I’m sorry,” he told her.

“Thanks… I’m sorry I told your girlfriend to break up with you. She really didn’t want to. I talked her into it,” Max replied. 

“It’s okay… I kinda deserved it,” Mike smiled. 

“Truce?” Max asked, putting her hand out. 

Mike shook it. “Truce.”

“I think this is the start of a weird friendship,” Max joked. 

“Our whole lives are weird, but us being friends? That’s definitely the weirdest thing that’s ever happened,” Mike added. 

……..

Back to October 1989…

Later, Max sat across the booth from Mike and El at the diner that was only a block from campus. She’d gotten very used to being the third wheel, but she didn’t mind it so much anymore. In fact, she loved that they never excluded her. In exchange, she’d give them some alone time occasionally. 

The only part of being near them all the time that was a little annoying was how stupidly in love they were with each other. Don’t get Max wrong, she knows they’re literally perfect together, and she’s happy for them. But it’s a little hard for her to see them like that when she’s still hurting from her breakup with Lucas. 

It was the week before they both left for college. Neither one of them wanted to break up, but they both agreed that they should be focusing on themselves as they started going to different schools and wouldn’t be able to see each other very often. 

Max would be lying if she said she didn’t miss him. 

“Max,” El said, staring at her expectantly.

“Sorry, what?” Max replied, shaking her head.

“I asked if you were okay… you had that look on your face again,” El repeated. 

Mike looked just as worried as El did. 

“I’m fine, just… yeah, I’m fine,” Max answered. 

Neither of them seemed convinced, but they didn’t say anything. At some point, friends do lie, but good friends know the truth even when you don’t tell it. 

“Hey, I have an idea. Why don’t we go to this party I got invited to tonight? We haven’t been to any college parties yet,” Mike suggested.

“You were invited to a party, Wheeler?” Max asked. 

“Hey! I can be cool sometimes… and my roommate heard about it and told me,” he admitted. “So are we going or not?”

“I’m in,” Max agreed, smiling, “What about you, El?”

El was still a little hesitant with large amounts of people, but she loved new experiences.

“Okay, we can go,” El nodded.

……..

The sounds of music boomed through the house as Max walked in with Mike and El. There were people everywhere, some with drinks in their hands and others who were making out.

“So this is a college party,” El said. 

“I’m definitely going to need something to drink,” Max began to walk further into the crowd, trying to find a drink. It didn’t take long, as there was more alcohol in this house than there should be in existence. Max grabbed a beer for herself, a wine cooler for El, and a Coke for Mike, who had graciously volunteered to be the designated driver. (Max knew that if El was going to be drinking, Mike wouldn’t. He was too protective of her, and would always take care of her. That’s why he usually volunteered for the DD position.)

It took Max about five more minutes to locate Mike and El because 1) this house was slam-packed with drunk college kids and 2) they had moved out of the main entrance to get away from the flow of traffic. 

Two hours passed by in a bit of blur, thanks to the buzz from Max’s beer. Mike and El had disappeared. Max didn’t think they were the kind of couple to go have sex in a random bedroom, but she wouldn’t be surprised if they had wandered back out to the car. 

Max knew they’d eventually come find her when they wanted to leave, so she took a bottle of vodka out to the backyard, which had a lot less people. She sat down in the grass, letting the cool fall air blow her hair into her face. 

“Hey…” a voice from her left said quietly.

Max turned her head to look at the source. It was a guy, blonde hair and tall. He was sitting a couple feet from her. 

“Hi,” Max answered. 

“You go to school here?” the guy asked.

“Yeah,” Max replied.

“What year?” 

“Freshman.”

The guy scooted a little closer. Max didn’t really notice. 

“Freshman year’s a bitch, but you’ll get through it,” he told her. 

“Do I seem that depressed?” Max asked. 

“Well… you’re sitting out here staring into the abyss with a bottle of vodka. You sure as hell don’t seem happy.”

Max didn’t answer. 

“I’ll be honest. I’ve been kind of following you all night. You came with that couple, didn’t you?”

“Yeah… but I don’t appreciate being stalked.” It hurt her to think about the last boy she’d called a stalker. 

“It wasn’t stalking necessarily… sorry… if that made you uncomfortable,” the guy said. 

“It’s okay,” Max answered. 

“So, the couple you came with, did they ditch you?” 

“No, they wouldn’t do that. They’re probably making out somewhere.”

The guy was even closer now. Max noticed. But she didn’t push him away. Maybe… maybe this was what she needed to get over Lucas. 

“Lucky them,” he whispered. 

“What’s your name?” Max asked.

“Andy.”

“I’m Max,” she told him.

“You are very beautiful, Max,” Andy said. 

“And that was a cliche line, Andy,” Max replied. 

They were so close now. 

“But it’s gonna work, isn’t it?” 

Before Max could say anything, they were kissing.

He tasted like beer, and Max knew that this shouldn’t be happening, but her brain wasn’t thinking clearly. Thanks alcohol!

Finally, she came to her senses and pushed him away. He didn’t resist, which she appreciated.

“Sorry, I just—“ he started. 

“No, it’s not you. It’s me,” Max told him. “….. I’m in love with someone else.”

……..

Fifteen minutes later, long after Andy had left Max alone, she felt the presence of someone beside her again. 

“Hey,” Mike said, as he sat down. 

“Where’s El?” 

“She’s in the car asleep. Has been for about an hour,” he told her.

“I miss Lucas,” Max admitted. 

“I know,” Mike said. 

Max scooted closer to Mike and put her head on his shoulder. Mike patted her back, and they stayed like that until they decided to head back to the dorms.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for all the support! 
> 
> REQUESTS STILL OPEN!!
> 
> see you in the next one!


	9. Moving Forward

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mike asks El to live with him. There are some complications, involving a very upset Jim Hopper.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oof I almost went two months without updating this again. Whoops, sorry! But please enjoy this lovely little chapter, where Mike and El start taking some more steps forward, and of course, there's someone who doesn't like it.

May 1990

Returning back to Hawkins felt like a breath of fresh air for El. Even when she was only back for a weekend visit, she loved being at home. She knew that someday she’d move back to Hawkins. 

Some might think after everything she was put through with the lab and all the terror, she would want to get as far away as possible. But the way El saw it, Hawkins had given her even more than it had taken from her. It had given her a home, a family, friends, and the love of her life. She would go through everything again if she had to. It was worth it. 

So being back in Hawkins for the summer was going to be amazing. Being back with all of her friends, having more time for dates with Mike, and getting to see her dad and Joyce. Even Jonathan and Nancy were coming back for the summer. 

El’s heart beat faster in excitement as she and Mike drove past the sign greeting them. They were home. 

Mike drove through the familiar streets of Hawkins, straight to El’s house. Tonight was probably going to be the only night that Mike and El would spend apart. They’d both agreed that they owed their parents some undivided attention for at least one evening. 

Mike pulled his car into the driveway, where Hopper could be seen smoking a cigarette on the porch. 

“Hey, kids!” he greeted, stepping down off the porch. 

“Hey, Dad,” El said, hugging him. 

Mike began to unload El’s things from the car, as they talked. 

“Talked Joyce into having Eggos tonight,” Hopper told her. “She said we could as long as we ate real food first.”

“With extra whipped cream and cherries?” El asked. 

“Course,” Hopper grinned. “How was the drive, Mike?”

“Alright. Not too much traffic. El kept falling asleep though,” Mike teased. 

“Hey! I was up studying really late for my exam this morning! Give me a break,” El swatted Mike on the shoulder. 

“Well, I better get home before my mom starts to worry. I’ll see you later, El,” Mike wanted to kiss El goodbye, but Hopper was standing about four feet away, so Mike stood there awkwardly for a second. 

Hopper rolled his eyes and turned around, going into the house and leaving them alone to have a moment. 

El wrapped her arms around Mike’s neck, “I love you. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“I love you too.. Tomorrow,” Mike repeated before kissing her.

Only it really wouldn’t be tomorrow. Because Mike and El, being Mike and El, couldn’t bear to go twenty-four hours apart. El went to Mike in the void that night, and pulled him in so they could see each other. (A power they’d discovered after years of having a strong connection, and that came in handy on nights like these.)

……..

One month into summer break, Mike and El were out by Lovers Lake, sitting beneath the sunshine as it poured down on their picnic. As usual, Mike and El had been taking any stolen moments they could. It was a lot harder to do when they were home, where there were parents, siblings, and friends in their constant presence. 

They loved every bit of it, even the parts where they had to sneak around even though they are adults now. The couple had had more adventures than they could count, so chaos was what often fueled them.

But today, in the warmth of June, it was peaceful and serene. A perfect time for Mike to talk to El.

A perfect time to talk of the future. 

She was getting more beautiful each day, or at least, that’s what Mike was thinking when those brown eyes found his staring. 

“What?” El said, pushing a strand of hair out of her face.

“Let’s move in together,” Mike blurted. 

“What? What are you talking about?” El turned to face him fully.

“I’ve been thinking… I’m tired of having to go back and forth between our dorms all the time, and it would be so much better if we lived together. We would get to come home to each other every night,” Mike told her. 

“I don’t know.. what about Max? We were planning on rooming together again. I don’t want to leave her behind without a roommate,” El replied. 

“Well…” Mike thought. “I guess we could get a two bedroom apartment and she could have the other bedroom.”

“You’d really be okay with Max living with us?” El asked. 

“Well, yeah, I don’t want to leave her alone either. And besides, she hates the dorms even more than we do,” Mike explained. 

El smiled. “You’re really sweet. Did you know that?” 

Mike grinned back.

“So… we’re really gonna do this?” El asked.

“Hell yeah,” Mike answered.

“Well… if we’re going to live together, we need to set some ground rules,” El said, sitting up straighter. “I get to decorate. We still come back to Hawkins for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and at least some of the summer. And… we move back to Hawkins when we’re finished with college.”

“Done, done, and done,” Mike knew how El felt about Hawkins. He had decided a long time ago that Hawkins would always be his home, because he would never want to upset El. Besides, Hawkins was a pretty nice place to live when there weren’t monsters from another dimension around. 

……..

Mike and El’s plan to live together (plus Max) went almost perfectly. Almost. 

They found an affordable apartment near campus, Max and El cancelled their housing request for the next year, and Mike had enough money in his account to make a down payment. 

Unfortunately, their only roadblock came in the form of one Jim Hopper.

El tried to make it seem casual. She tried not to make a big deal about it (even though it was, even to her). 

They were having a rare family dinner, Hop, Joyce, Jonathan, Will, and El. The talk was light, casual, and Hopper was even in a good mood. 

El cleared her throat. 

“Hey, dad,” she said, trying to find the best words to say, without him freaking out. 

“What’s up, kiddo?” he looked at her, as did everyone else around the table. Will have a El a knowing look. He was aware of the plan already. 

“So, Max and I have decided to get an apartment instead of living in the dorms this year,” El said. It wasn’t technically lying. 

Will rolled his eyes. 

“Well, that will be nice, having your own room and more living space,” he replied. 

“Um... yeah... but I won’t have... my own room,” El admitted. 

Hopper looked confused. 

“Mike... is going to live with us,” El finally said. 

Hopper’s intake of breath was very audible, as the entire table was quiet. 

“What?” 

“Hopper, I think..” Joyce began. 

“No.”

“Excuse me?” El said. 

“I said no. You’re not moving in together and that’s final,” Hopper replied. She could feel the anger radiating off of him. 

“I’m nineteen, Dad,” El tried to remain calm. 

“Oh, and to you, that’s plenty old enough to shack up with your boyfriend? You’re still a kid,” Hopper aggressively shoved his fork into his chicken. 

“No, I’m not. And yes, I am old enough. If I’m old enough to live on my own, which you were fine with by the way, then I’m old enough to live with Mike,” El reasoned calmly. 

“Hop,” Joyce touched his arm. “You know you can trust her. It’s just moving in to an apartment together. That’s it. They’re not getting married or anything.” 

“El, please. You can’t live with him. It’s too soon,” Hopper said. 

“Dad, if you want me to be completely honest, I will be. Whether we actually live together or not, Mike and I spend the night together all the time. He stays at my dorm. I stay at his. He’s snuck into my bedroom here more times than I can count. What difference does it make?” El stared Hopper down fiercely. She knew he wouldn’t like to hear that, but it was the truth. 

Hopper stood angrily, leaving the rest of his dinner and heading to his and Joyce’s bedroom. 

A few minutes later, Joyce came in. 

“Hey,” she spoke quietly, as she shut the door. 

Hopper didn’t say anything. 

“You know,” Joyce started. “It was bound to happen soon enough. And it really isn’t that big of a deal.”

Hopper scoffed. 

“No, I know that it is to you and probably to them, too. But... Mike and El are solid. They need to live together to know what it’s going to be like for the rest of their lives.... I mean, I didn’t move in with Lonnie until I was pregnant with Jonathan and we were planning our shotgun wedding. We had no clue how to live together, and instead of taking the time to learn, we fought. We didn’t deal with it properly.... but Mike and El? If they do this now, by the time they get married and start having kids, they’ll know exactly how to live with each other,” Joyce told him. 

Hopper looked up at her. The anger was gone and replaced with a sadness that had been hidden so well in the heat of the argument earlier. 

Joyce moved to sit by him. “Hop, you can’t control their relationship. I’ve told you this about a hundred times, but somehow something always sets you off. And I think I know what it is.”

“You do?” Hopper asked. 

“Of course, I feel it too. With all three of our children, I do. You don’t like seeing her grow up. I certainly don’t either. But she is, Hop. And it’s not going to stop. So, instead of yelling at her or Mike every time they take one step forward, you should be there to support them.... If we’re being completely honest here, I’m guessing we have one, maybe two years before Mike proposes. And when it happens, I want you to hold your head high, walk her down the aisle, and realize that you’re not losing her. You’ll be gaining a son.”

Hopper smiled sadly. “Guess I owe her an apology, huh?” 

“Couldn’t hurt,” Joyce smiled. 

“Thanks, Joyce. How did I end up with the perfect wife to balance out my crazy?” 

Joyce didn’t answer, but shook her head and rolled her eyes. 

Later that night, Hopper knocked on El’s bedroom door. 

It was quiet for a moment, and then there was a noise, accompanied by El’s voice saying, “Come in.” 

Hopper opened the door and sat on his daughter’s bed. 

“El... I’m sorry about how I reacted before. I just... don’t like to think about you growing up,” he said. 

El smiled. “I know. But you know, me growing up... it doesn’t make me any less your daughter.”

“Sometimes I forget that,” Hopper replied. 

“So... are you okay with me and Mike moving in together?” El asked hesitantly. 

“Not entirely, but... that’s not my decision. It’s yours. And you’re right, you aren’t a child anymore. So, if that’s what you wanna do, I’ll be there for you,” Hopper told her. 

“Thanks, Dad. “

Hopper stood up and began to walk out, but stopped at the door. 

“Night, El,” he said, stopping for a moment, and glancing to the closet. “Night, Mike.” 

There was a fumbling sound as a very red and disheveled Mike appeared out of the closet. 

“Uh... yeah, goodnight,” he said. 

Hopper mumbled something under his breath that sounded an awful lot like “damn kids,” then shut the door firmly behind him. 

Screw 3 inches. The kids never followed that rule anyways. 

........

In August, the couple moved into their first shared home, the one they would live in for almost three years until the day came when they would buy a house together. The house that they would raise their family in. 

But until then, they are perfectly fine with their little two bedroom apartment. 

And living with Max.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A special shout out to the accounts who leave comments on all my fanfics, your comments truly warm my heart. 
> 
> Oh, and I have a tumblr now: @welcome-to-the-upside-down-011


	10. Sunset Sky

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The moment every girl dreams of.... Mike asks El to marry him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been waiting rather impatiently to write this chapter for a long time, but when it finally reached the top of my list, my mind could barely decide what it wanted to do. I for one am a fan of the large elaborate proposals that many fanfics seem to lean towards, but I wanted to write something different, and so I went with a more simple approach. 
> 
> I think that sometimes there is even more beauty in a simple proposal.

April 1992

Mike’s honestly a little surprised (and proud) that he’d waited this long. When he was sixteen, his plans had been to propose to El right out of high school. But of course, when that point of time came quicker than expected, Mike decided to put it off for another year or so. But it didn’t happen the next year either. There was always something that stood in the way of Mike proposing to El. Money. Time. The last year had even been a rocky year for the state of their relationship. While they never did break up, or even really fight for that matter, they didn’t talk much. El’s biological mother had finally passed, and with it, El became closed off. 

Now, however, they were back to themselves. Happy. Mike and El. 

And finally, at the age of 21, Mike had no more obstacles. He could ask the girl of his dreams to marry him. He could feel the weight of the little ring box with every step he took nowadays. He’d bought it at a jewelry shop two months ago. 

Unfortunately, over the years, his jar of “ring money” had been infiltrated multiple times for things like gas and food, but he’d finally managed to have enough in there to get the ring. He’d bought it almost immediately after realizing he had enough. Now there was no temptation to use the money for anything else. 

Mike was glad to have his Fridays free of classes, he needed to make a trip back to Hawkins, and El needed to not know about it. 

Mike had decided long ago, that he had to tell both Hopper and his mother about his plans to propose before actually doing it. His mother, because she would be so excited. And Hopper, as a warning, because let’s face it, the man needed time to get used to the idea.

His first stop, however, was neither of them. His first stop was to see Nancy. 

After a year and a half of working in New York, she and Jonathan moved back to a neighboring town of Hawkins. Nancy was one of the top journalists for the town, and Jonathan was running his own photography studio. Mike pulled his car into the driveway of their suburban home. 

Nancy was waiting eagerly for him. Mike met her on the porch, giving her a hug. 

“How’s the baby?” he asked. 

“Good, other than the fact that she won’t stop kicking me now,” Nancy replied, smiling.

“She?” 

“Just a hunch,” Nancy led them into the house, and into the kitchen, where she was making lunch. 

Mike sat at the island. He’d offer to help, but Nancy is still strongly independent, and would forcefully shove him back into the seat if he tried. 

“So, to what do I owe this lovely visit, Mike?” Nancy asked, placing a turkey sandwich in front of him. 

“Well,” Mike wordlessly pulled out the ring box, and opened it, setting it on the counter. 

Nancy had a quiet intake of breath, as she looked it over. “Mike,” she smiled tearfully. “You’re asking her to marry you.”

“Yeah,” Mike grinned back.

Nancy quickly walked around the counter to hug him tightly. “It’s about damn time, Mike. I’ve been waiting for this to happen for years.”

“Me too. Honestly surprised I haven’t done it yet,” Mike admitted.

“Yes, you are one to jump the gun on a lot of things,”Nancy commented. 

“No more than you,” Mike gestured to her bump. 

Nancy rolled her eyes at him. He was having a lot of fun teasing her for being pregnant and not being married yet. (Though, Nancy’s not even sure if she wants to get married, ever.)

The next half hour was quiet conversation about the proposal, the baby, school, and work, until it was time for Mike to get a move on. He had a lot to do today.

Mike’s next stop was his parents’ house, where his mother would also be waiting for him. He’d called from Nancy’s house to let her know he was coming. 

Mike walked through the front door. He hadn’t lived in the house for almost two years, but it would always be home to him. 

“Mom?” He called out.

“Mike?” His mother answered. She was in the living room, and he followed the sound of her voice. 

Karen was starting to age a little more. Not so much to make her look old, but enough to notice she was almost 50 now. Her hair was getting a little thinner, and the skin around her eyes was loosening a little, but she was still his mother. 

“What’s going on sweetie?” she asked. Mike didn’t usually make special trips to go home, and especially not without El.

He told her, and as expected, she was beyond excited, practically gushing with joy. 

He didn’t stay long, needing to head over to Hopper at the station and have time to get back to his apartment before El. 

The station was just the same as it always was. Flo was sitting at the front desk as Mike came in. 

“Hey, Mike, didn’t know you were in town,” she greeted. He and Flo had been on a first name basis for years. After all, he and El were attached to the hip, and they were almost never seen apart. 

“Ah, well, I’ve got a mission and then I’ll be back to Indianapolis,” he explained. 

Flo smiled. “You know where he is.”

Mike returned her smile and headed back to Hopper’s office. 

Steve was sitting in the seat opposite of Hopper as they discussed some issue with neighborhood dogs. 

“Middle Wheeler!” Steve shouted when he saw him. He stood, and hugged Mike. “How’s it goin, man?”

“Good, good,” Mike answered. 

“What brought you to our side of town?” Steve asked. 

“Actually, I need to talk to Hopper,” Mike replied seriously. 

“Alright, then I’ll get out of your hair,” Steve left the room, shutting the door. 

Hopper looked at Mike with an odd expression. It was almost amused. 

Mike sat in the chair that Steve had been occupying, and took a deep breath. 

So far, Hopper has fought literally every step made in Mike and El’s relationship. Mike doesn’t expect this time to be any different, but instead of putting on his intimidating facade, Hopper began to chuckle. 

“I knew it,” Hopper said. 

“What?” Mike’s confusion is plastered across his face. 

“I’ve been expecting you to show up, looking scared to death like this for years,” Hopper told him. “I bet Joyce twenty bucks that it would happen sometime this year.”

Mike still didn’t get it. He stared blankly, as Hopper continued to talk.

“Go ahead, Mike. Tell me what you came to tell me, and I’ll react in the exact opposite of the way you’re expecting me too,” Hopper told him.

Mike cleared his throat. “I’m planning on proposing to El…” Mike said slowly, waiting for Hopper’s expression to change, but it didn’t.

“I know,” Hopper said simply. 

“And you’re not mad?” Mike asked. 

“No,” Hopper chuckled. “If you came to me about two years ago, I would’ve been. But no. I’ve decided to take the supportive father route instead of the big scary cop route.”

Mike breathed out a sigh of relief. 

“I’ve known for a long time that you two would get married, and I’ve actually enjoyed having you around, these past couple years at least.”

“Really?” Mike’s eyebrows shot up. He’d always assumed he was Hopper’s least favorite person.

“Yeah, I guess something happened over the years that made me forgive you for the first couple of years of hell you put me through with your relationship with El,” Hopper said.

“What was it?” Mike asked.

“You got less annoying, less arrogant, stopped talking back to me. You’ve become a great man, Mike. I’m proud of you, and I’m grateful for you too. I know that without you, El could have been killed, and she would never be as happy as she is now. So, I know you didn’t ask for it, but I’m going to give it to you anyway. Mike, you have my blessing to marry El.”

Mike smiled. “Thanks, Hopper.”

“So, how are you planning on doing it?” Hopper asked.

……..

May 1992

El put her window down as she rode in the passenger seat of Mike’s car, even though it was still a little too chilly. She liked the cool air, but what she liked even more, was the fact that they were heading back to Hawkins for a week. Their junior year of college had ended with a lot of stress, but now all El could feel was happiness and freedom. There were still some responsibilities of course, like making rent, but there was no more schoolwork, no more due dates and deadlines. And now, El would be spending the next week with her favorite people. 

Mike’s right hand left the steering wheel and found El’s. There’s been something going on with Mike lately, and El has noticed. She’s very observant, but she knows whatever it is, it’s good because Mike has been so happy lately. So, she doesn’t worry too much about it. She doesn’t know that this week at home is not just that, that there is another reason Mike is taking her home this week. 

As usual, Mike drops El off at her parents’ house, promising to call her later. Each time they go home, they save the first night for their families. (Of course, they always meet in the void at some point later in the night. Sometimes, Mike even sneaks out to El’s house and stays over. El’s family definitely knows at this point, but no one says anything.)

During the week, they spend their time split pretty evenly between family and friends. The Party is all home for the summer, so they get together almost every day. It’s as if they were never split up for college, but there is a bit of tension between Lucas and Max, who have remained apart for the entire three years. 

On the final night of their visit, Hopper and Joyce decide to hold a gathering in the backyard of their house. They tell the kids to invite whoever they want, and make plans to use the campfire outside and grill hamburgers and hot dogs. 

El wears a summery dress with yellow flowers scattered all over it, and does her hair, pinning pieces back so they’ll stay out of her face. El loves a party, even if it is a small one. 

The Party is all there, Steve, Robin, Nancy, and Jonathan too. Even Mike’s parents came. 

Mike swoops in, when he first sees her, picking her up and kissing her briefly.

The night is fun and warm. All the people she loves in one place. 

As the sun starts to go down, El notices her father exchange a knowing glance with Mike, then Joyce. She notices that a lot of people seem to know something she doesn’t, as Mike pulls her by the hand to the center of the yard. 

Then, Mike begins to speak. El looks confused, when she realizes that everyone is standing there watching them. 

“El, when I was twelve years old, I was just a stupid kid. I didn’t know anything about falling in love, and I never really thought I would. Until I met you. It took me one week… one week to fall in love with you so hard that I couldn’t get back up again. You were my first kiss, the only person I’ve ever kissed, the only person I ever want to kiss. Five years ago, you asked me when I was going to propose to you. Tonight. Tonight is the answer,” Mike lowered onto one knee, and pulled the ring out for her to see.

El’s eyes were filling up with tears of love now, as she finally realized what was happening. 

“El, will you marry me?” Mike finally said.

He barely got the words out, before El was screaming “Yes!” and jumping into his arms. They released the embrace only for a moment, as Mike slid the diamond on her left ring finger, then they kissed for what seemed like a thousand years, but for once no one stopped them. 

Jonathan, with his trusty camera, took a picture as the couple grinned at each other, foreheads pressed together. In the background of the photo, there was grass and small trees off in the distance. But there was also the sunset, filling the sky with orange and pink color that illuminated the scene perfectly. This is the picture that would hang on the wall of Mike and El’s bedroom until the end of their lives.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading, yet again! Obviously, upcoming chapters will include wedding preparations and the wedding itself. Then, we'll be headed into the adult!mileven stage of life, which includes work, babies, and of course, Mileven being even more in love than ever. Stay tuned, and feel free to send me some requests for the future or even for the wedding chapters!


	11. What Best Friends Are For

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Max is having a hard time, and El gives her some best friend advice

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey y'all. Forgive me for the short chapter, I promise more will be coming soon. I just had the idea for this scene, and didn't think it really needed any other supporting scenes. It's kind of an extension of the Mike and Max heart-to-heart chapter, only this time the heart-to-heart is between Max and El. We're taking a small detour from the Mileven track to the Lumax one, but only briefly. Next chapter, we will be back to our regularly scheduled Mileven.

August 1992

It was hot out on the streets of Indianapolis, as El traveled between classes. 

Senior year of college. 

It was so hard for El to believe how quickly her life was flying by. Had it really been almost nine years since she first met Mike? Eight since they were finally brought together? It felt like only yesterday when they were just kids fighting monsters and saving the world. 

Now, things were much different, but in a good way. There were no more monsters, no more supernatural. El had pretty much everything she ever wanted, of course there were other things she wanted, but those would come later, when she was a little older. El dreamed of her future, and now that it was getting so close, she could practically feel it. 

One year from now, she and Mike would be out of college, living back in Hawkins with grown up jobs, and best of all, they would be married. El found herself touching her engagement ring often. She had even begun to do those cheesy things that people in the movies do, where they do things with their left hand so that others would notice the diamond. 

It was silly, yes. But El was just so happy. 

At the end of the day, El went back to the apartment that had been her home for the last two years. Of course, it would never feel quite like home as much as Hawkins did, but it did have a warm and inviting feel to it. 

Even if she had to share it with a fiery redhead, who snored very loudly on the couch.

“Max,” El said as she sat down her bag, and began to shake her. 

“Wha?” Max mumbled, opening her eyes sleepily. 

“You know, the couch is in a shared area,” El teased. “You have a whole bedroom that you could sleep in.”

Max glared, “What time is it?” 

“Four-fifteen,” El answered, as she made her way to the kitchen. 

Max got up and followed. “Is Mike not here?” she asked. 

“It’s Tuesday. He’s at work til eleven.”

“Oh, good, so I probably won’t have to deal with your gross sex noises,” Max replied sharply.

El gave her a look, but otherwise didn’t respond to the comment. “How was class today?” she changed the subject. 

“Didn’t go,” Max said, sitting down at the table, while El poured herself some water. 

El sighed. Max was always like this after summer. “You wanna talk about it?” El asked. 

Max gave a short laugh, but there was no humor in it. “What’s there to talk about, El?”

El looked into her poor friend’s eyes. She wanted to help her. “I just think it would be better if you got it all off your chest.”

Max huffed. “Fine. I can’t keep doing this,” she admitted. 

“Doing what?” El said, but she already knew the answer. She was just trying to keep Max talking. 

“Every Christmas, every thanksgiving, every summer, I go home and I see him. And every time, it breaks me further and further apart…. I’ve tried El, and I just can’t be friends with him. And then I come back here, and you and Mike are just so perfect and in love, and it’s worse because it’s not even your fault so I can’t be mad at you… Truth is, I’m just mad at myself.” Max rarely ever says Lucas’ name, but El doesn’t need to hear it to know who she’s talking about. 

“Max,” El began, taking one of her hands, “You should talk to him. You two have been dealing with this in all the wrong ways for three years now… I know you didn’t want to do a long-distance relationship, but in nine months, we’ll all be graduates, and you’ll be free to go wherever you want to. I’m not going to tell you what to do, but I will say that if it were me, I would at least give the long-distance relationship a try. Nine months really isn’t that long, especially when you’d still see each other at Thanksgiving and Christmas.”

Max didn’t look happy about the idea. “You make it sound so easy… if this had been you and Mike, you never would have broken up.”

El smiled sadly. “I never said it would be easy… And for the record, Mike and I aren’t perfect. We might not have broken up in your situation, but we definitely would not have handled it well.”

Max rolled her eyes.

“No, listen to me,” El said. “I’m serious. What Mike and I have… yes, it’s special, but you and Lucas are completely different from us. And being different doesn’t make you any less special…. Max, you need to talk to Lucas about all this. You can’t go on like this anymore.”

At the mention of Lucas’ name, Max’s eyes reached El’s again. “We slept together… this summer, right before we came back,” she admitted. 

“Even more of a reason to talk to him,” El replied. “Clearly, he still loves you too.”

Max sat silently for a moment, before nodding. “Okay… I’ll talk to him.”

“Good.” El stood, and started to grab ingredients out of the fridge and cupboards to make dinner. 

“Thanks, El,” Max said quietly. 

“That’s what best friends are for, Maxie.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading my words, and stuff. I hope nobody is feeling too cooped up by the corona quarantine!


	12. Before

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A few scenes leading up to the Mileven Wedding! Planning, buying a house, and Hopper loving his children!!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What's up y'all?! This next one is a precursor to the Mileven Wedding, which will take place in the next chapter. We're tying up my plan for these two in a little bow, and hopefully, it's not shitty??? I can't really tell anymore. Lol but in all seriousness, I love y'all for reading my stories, please enjoy!!

February 1993 (Six Months Before The Wedding)

If Mike had realized just how much planning goes into a wedding, he would’ve suggested that he and El could elope. But it was far too late, and they were in this planning far too deep. 

The wedding, only six months away now, was nowhere near completely planned, but somehow they’d were constantly making decisions. One week it was the flowers, the next it was the guest list. And the worst part, Mike couldn’t even complain about how much work it was because El was just so damn happy. 

He was too, of course. He was going to marry the girl of his dreams and everything was going to be perfect. 

The biggest challenge had been the wedding party. The uneven ratio of girls to guys that they would like in their wedding was hard to work out, but this is what they ended up with: Max was El’s maid of honor; Will was Mike’s best man; the bridesmaids were Nancy, Robin, and Holly; and the groomsmen were Lucas, Dustin, and Jonathan. 

Nancy and Jonathan’s daughter, who would be eleven months old at the time of the wedding, would act as the flower girl. They were hoping she would be able to walk by then, but if she couldn’t, Mike’s mother would help her. 

It was cold outside. El had just gotten home from class, so her face was still a little red from the chill. She would complain about the way it made her look like a tomato, but Mike thought she would look beautiful no matter what. She put her bag down on the couch and made her way over to her fiancé. 

Mike hugged her tightly, holding her close and kissing the top of her head before eventually he found her lips. 

“You’re warm,” El hummed against his chest. 

Mike chuckled, “You’re cold.”

“You want to have a movie night tonight? We’ve been working so hard lately, I think we deserve a night off,” El said. She was on the same wavelength as him, as always.

“Hm.. that sounds… perfect,” Mike agreed. 

So, the evening was spent in the living room, having a Star Wars marathon while being snuggled together under a blanket, eating popcorn, and making out occasionally. Max came home about halfway through and ended up staying to watch for a while. 

It was nice being able to relax for a night. They were just Mike and just El. They didn’t need anything else. 

Tomorrow, they would have to return to work, the wedding planning, and school work. But tonight, none of that mattered. It was just them and their love for each other. 

……..

June 1993 (Two Months Before The Wedding)

It was a beautiful home. Two stories, three bedrooms, an office, and two and a half baths. It had a cute porch swing, and even the walk-in closet El had been hoping for. The only problem? Money. Mike was good at saving money. He’d been doing it for years, thinking forward to this very moment in time. But with the wedding, and their current financial situation, Mike and El did not have enough money to buy this house. 

Mike wanted to be an author, writing fictional books, but for now he was an editor for the Hawkins Post. He didn’t even get to write the columns, he was just in charge of fixing everyone else’s mistakes. 

El was hired by Hawkins Middle School to be the new school psychologist. But it was June, so she wasn’t even going to start until September, meaning she wouldn’t get her first paycheck until then either. To make up for this, she helped Hopper out at the police station. Flo was getting close to retirement anyway, and had offered for El to basically do her job for the summer. 

So, technically, they were making money, but things were a little rough right now. And they just wanted out of Hopper’s house. 

The lease for their apartment wasn’t up yet, but they still needed to move back to Hawkins before, because of Mike’s job. So, of course, given their very little options, they were forced to move into El’s old bedroom at the Hopper household. This meant they got very little alone time, and what little alone time they did get was marred by the fact that they still had to be quiet because there was almost always other people in the house. 

Needless to say, they wanted out as soon as possible. 

The house was everything they could want, and they knew they couldn’t afford it, but they went and looked at it anyways. 

That was a mistake. Because now they wanted something they couldn’t have even more. 

They came home that night depressed and told Joyce and Hopper about it during dinner. 

“It was just so pretty, I wish there was something we could do,” El said. 

“Well, how much is it?” Hopper asked. 

“About ten grand higher than our budget,” Mike replied sadly. He hated to think that he couldn’t give this to El.

“Listen kids, I know how hard it must be to turn something like that down, and I really wish we could help you, but we don’t have that kind of money, and when you first get started, things are a little hard,” Hopper told them.

“We know,” El said, “It’s just a house… Maybe we could buy it in a few years, or one like it. After we’ve gotten settled.”

Mike thought he saw Hopper make an odd expression, but shook it off. 

……..

A week later, the girls were out shopping for the wedding dress and the bridesmaids dresses, while the boys were getting fitted for their tuxes. The boys were finished long before the girls would be, so Mike found himself home alone… with Hopper. 

Now that Hopper was past the angry father stuff, and he had accepted that Mike was a part of the family, Hopper wasn’t as difficult to be alone with. Five years ago, when Mike was all raging hormones and Hopper was in protective dad mode, being alone in the same room together had always been awkward. But now, it was almost normal. Almost. 

Hopper could still scare the shit out of Mike whenever he wanted to, and they both knew it. 

They sat in the living room, drinking beer and watching a game of football on the TV. Mike didn’t really care much for football, but it was nice to sit back and watch with Hopper. 

After a while, Hopper got up and left the room. When he returned, he threw a large manilla envelope at Mike, who just barely caught it with his fumbling coordination. 

“What’s this?” he asked.

“Open it,” Hopper instructed. 

Mike unfolded the top of the envelope and reached inside. He pulled out a ton of cash. “Holy shit, what’s this for?” 

“It’s the money you need to buy your house.”

“What?” Mike stared at the older man as if he’d spoke Latin. “I thought you said you didn’t have that kind of money…”

“I don’t. But I did contribute a portion. I talked to just about everyone in this town who knows you, kid. Your parents, your grandparents, Nancy and Jonathan, Steve, Flo, and all your friends gave some. Your little sister gave twenty bucks… Even your old school teacher… what was his name? Clarke?….. There’s about 13,420 bucks in there.”

“I.. I can’t take all of their money,” Mike said, putting the cash back into the envelope. 

“Take it. Not a single person wants their money back. They just want you both to be happy. So please….. just buy your fiancé the damn house.” 

……..

“Mike, why did you bring me back here?” El asked. “You know that it’s just going to make me more sad we can’t get this house.”

Mike pulled the car into the driveway, but didn’t answer. “Notice anything different?”

El looked at the house, which looked as perfect as the last time she’d seen it. She was about to get annoyed with her fiancé for playing these stupid guessing games. Then, she saw it. 

“The sign says it’s sold,” El’s heart deflated a little bit. There went what little chance they had of getting this house sometime soon.

“Yeah… good thing I bought it, huh?” Mike replied. 

It took El about three seconds before she realized what he’d said. “What?!” she squealed with happiness. “I thought…”

“I worked it all out, don’t worry about it. We’re gonna be fine,” Mike answered her unfinished question. 

“Oh my God, I can’t believe it!” El squealed again, this time getting out of the car and running up onto the porch. Instead of waiting for Mike to bring the key up to unlock the door, she was far too excited and unlocked the door with her mind. By the time Mike was in the house, El was already planning things out in her head. 

“We can put the table here, and then we’ll put our bookcase up against this wall, and oh my, I love you with my whole heart, Mike Wheeler,” she exclaimed, throwing her arms around his neck. 

“I love you more,” he answered.

“Not possible,” El countered. And then they were kissing, and everything they were dreaming about was starting to fall into place. 

……..

August 1993 (Two Minutes Before The Wedding)

El’s heart was beating wildly in her chest. She was used to the feeling, and often associated it with things that connected her with Mike. The first time she saw him. Kissing at the Snowball. Telling him she loved him. Hearing him say it back. 

But today.. today was her wedding day. And in less than two minutes, she’d be walking down that aisle towards him. 

Hopper was already standing next to her, ready to walk her down the aisle. He was dressed in his tux, one that he’d worn only a few times, and she’d rarely seen him in. 

“You look beautiful, El,” he said. 

She smiled up at him, “Thanks Dad.. for everything.”

“I would do it all again… even the telekinetic tantrums,” he told her. 

El giggled. “I love you,” she said.

“I love you too, kiddo. You’ll always be my girl.”

Then, El heard the change in music that signaled it was time for them to start walking. Her heart continued to beat wildly.

“You ready?” Hopper asked her. 

“Ready,” she answered, and they stepped out into the aisle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading, once again! Please drop any suggestions or expectations for the wedding chapter, I really need some help with ideas!! See y'all again soon!!


	13. Promises

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The long awaited Mileven wedding!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just one thing before you begin reading. Yes, this is short. I didn't want to blather on about their wedding because their are so many wedding fics out there, and everything's already been done before. I wanted to put more focus on their relationship rather than the day itself, so that's what I did. Hopefully, this rather concise summary of their wedding still fulfills your love for mileven!

August 1993

Beautiful. 

That’s what described Mike’s thoughts as he watched his bride walk down the aisle. She was clutching Hopper’s arm, but it seemed that that was the only thing holding her back from running straight towards him. Her dress, absolutely perfect in every way, and her hair, in an elegant half-up style. She was his, and he was hers. For the rest of their lives. 

Mike’s eyes teared up a little at the sight of her. How did he get so lucky?

Finally, she was only a foot away. Hopper handed her hand over to Mike’s, and walked back to his seat. Mike held both of her hands, and stared into her beautiful brown eyes. It seemed so long ago that he’d first looked at her like this. Twelve years old, her hair shaved. They were just kids then, but somehow Mike had found his person. 

The ceremony was short, and Mike didn’t hear much of what the priest said. But he’d paid attention when it was time for the vows. 

Most people use the standard vows, but with a couple so different from the rest of the world, so unique, it seemed only fitting that they wrote their own vows. 

“El,” Mike began his. “You have been my other half for every minute of the last nine years, eight months, twelve days, and eighteen hours. I’ve loved every moment I’ve had with you, even when we were fighting because you and I were always meant to be together. I could say a million things about why I love you, but I don’t think our guests would enjoy sitting here for that long, so I’ll keep it short… El, I promise to be there for you when you need me. I promise to be your foundation, the person you can always rely on. I promise to take care of you, to give you the best life I possibly can. I promise to give you all the things in life that you’ve ever told me you wanted. I promise that I will always be by your side. I promise that I will devote myself to you, because you are the best thing that has ever happened to me. I promise not to break my promises. And El, I promise to love you for the rest of my life and for the rest of time. I love you. I promise.”

El’s eyes glistened with tears she was trying not to shed, but her voice didn’t waiver when she began her own vows. 

“Mike, when I met you, I was a freak, a weirdo, but you stood up for me. You gave me a place to stay, and even though I didn’t realize it yet, it wasn’t the fort in your basement that you gave me…. It was your heart. You’ve taught me more than anyone else ever has, and you’ve been my protector even when I was trying to protect you. If I could change anything from our past, I don’t think I would because it’s gotten us here. You are the keeper of my heart and soul. It’s funny, because I didn’t know what you were going to say in your vows, but somehow, mine are very similar…. Mike, I promise to be your wife, your friend, and your other half. I promise to always be there no matter what. I promise to give you all my love every day, because there’s no one else in the world who could compare to you. I promise to love you each and every day for the rest of our lives. I promise to love you because it’s the one thing I know how to do with perfect certainty. I love you. My heart is forever yours. I promise.”

The ceremony ended with a kiss, as all ceremonies do. 

An hour later, friends and family were gathered at the reception, as Mike and El were introduced as husband and wife. Jonathan was taking pictures the entire time, while most other people were dancing or eating the dinner. A small crowd had formed to watch Nancy and Jonathan’s little girl dance on her tiny baby legs, which were still wobbly because she had only just started walking the week before. 

Mike and El had their first dance to “Every Breath You Take.” El grinned when she saw Lucas and Max taking the dance floor together. (It had taken a few months for Max to build up the courage to ask Lucas to try to work things out again, then a few more to become truly comfortable again. Now, they were back to normal, maybe even happier than they had been before.)

The bouquet toss was fun for El, since she could maneuver the bouquet to anyone she wanted with her powers. Feeling rebellious, she tossed it backward and made it land directly in Max’s hands. Her best friend, knowing that she’d done it on purpose, was less amused. 

All night long, everyone was having the time of their lives dancing, drinking, and socializing. At the end of it all, Mike and El went home for the night, with plans to leave for the airport in the morning. They had decided on a short, simple honeymoon, so they could save money and still have fun. 

They flew out of Indianapolis to Tampa, where they checked in to their oceanside hotel. It was the first time El had ever seen the ocean. They shopped at the tourist shops, and ate seafood. Mike wasn’t a huge fan of eating fish, though, so after a few meals, they started looking for other places to eat. 

They were only there for five days, but those days were magical. As Mike and El grew old, they would find any chances they could to take another trip to the beach. But for now, they headed back to Hawkins to officially begin their life together. 

In reality, Mike and El’s wedding was fun, but not unusual. It was special to them, but just a normal wedding to everyone else. The truth of the matter is you don’t need a spectacular wedding and honeymoon to be happy. You just need that one person that makes you feel whole, and you will always feel like you are living in the best moments of your life. 

Mike and El would love each other to the end of their time together, which would be many many years from now, after having children and grandchildren. And even though they had already been together for almost a whole decade, this was only the beginning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks again, folks! 
> 
> Also, a quick PSA, I will be posting more frequently for the next two weeks to make up for an upcoming (short) hiatus that will prevent me from uploading any chapters. Surprisingly, I've already gotten to work on the next chapter for this series, and it will be posted in just a few days!


	14. Negatives and Positives

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's over a year after the Mileven wedding, and lately they've been wanting something that's determined to take it's time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you are wondering about the chapter count I've put on this... yes, I have plans to end this series of one-shots (which are connecting a lot more than I'd planned on having them to). I'm certainly not anywhere near done writing Mileven, but as for the theme of this series, I've almost reached the end of my plans. However, the chapter count is tentative. It may change again if there is a request that I want to fill or if one of the storylines I'm planning takes multiple chapters. The point is, I'm just letting you know that this is almost finished!

October 1994

“El!” Mike shouted from the computer in his office. 

El, who had been making dinner in the kitchen, came running in, “What? What is it?”

“You’ll never believe this,” Mike said, gesturing to his computer screen. 

El stepped forward, reading an email sent to Mike. Her face lit up as she realized what it said. Scholastic was going to publish Mike’s first ever novel. “Oh my God, Mike!”

“I know, I can’t believe it!” Mike exclaimed. It had been a long road to get here. For about six months, Mike had gone to work as an editor for the Hawkins Post, then returned home to write his book, which was a fictionalized retelling of their own past. It was altered, obviously, so that no one could recognize that it had actually happened. The only ones who would be able to tell were the ones directly involved. After a while, El was concerned about how much work Mike was doing, and she told him to quit his job so he could finish writing. He had been hard to convince, but El told him that she’d rather they made less money so that he could spend his evenings relaxing with his wife. It took another few months for him to actually finish the book, and then they were on the hunt for a publisher. 

But there was also another reason, besides the beginning of Mike’s career and more money, that they’d been hoping this would happen. For the past couple months, Mike and El had seriously been thinking about having a baby. They’d put it off because they didn’t feel quite stable enough yet, but with the promise of Mike’s book being published, it was just enough for them to start their family. 

“So how long until they get it published?” El asked him. 

“They said roughly a few months. It depends on how quickly their editors can get through it all,” Mike explained. 

“So.. does that mean we can start trying?… Or should we wait until after it’s been published?”

Mike knew what she was talking about immediately. “Well, if we get pregnant, the baby wouldn’t be born until long after its published, so I think we should be able to start now.” 

El grinned. “We’re trying to have a baby.”

“When did you want to start?” Mike asked.

……..

December 1994

As it turns out, getting pregnant isn’t as easy as everyone makes it out to be. It had been two months, and Joyce had reassured her that it could take a while and that was completely normal, but it still made El worry. What if she couldn’t have children? What if the lab had permanently ruined any chances of her conceiving a child? 

Mike had also been reassuring her, telling her that even if that were true, they would find some way or another to become parents. They would adopt if El couldn’t get pregnant. But he also told her that they would keep trying. Two months wasn’t a very long time. 

As Christmas came along, El’s heart ached at seeing little Natalie, Nancy and Jonathan’s two-year-old. And it ached even more when they announced that they were expecting another baby. 

……..

April 1995

El had been so sure this time. Her period had been late, and she went to buy a test, feeling more optimistic than she had in months. But her excitement evaporated immediately when it came out undeniably negative. She thought it might be a false negative, so she decided to wait a couple more days to take another test, but was unfortunately greeted with her period the next day. 

It had became even harder for Mike to console El now, because he was starting to get worried too. Were they not meant to have a baby?

……..

July 1995

Sitting in El’s gynecologist’s office, El talked about the fact that despite trying to have a baby for nine months now, she was still not pregnant. She was frustrated, and upset, but her doctor was calm. 

“Nine months of trying is actually not uncommon. In fact, some couples can take up to two or three years before they conceive. As far as your body goes, you are perfectly healthy. You should be able to get pregnant. I’m not concerned that you haven’t yet. It all depends on these tiny little factors that you don’t think about, and some you can’t even control. Don’t worry about it so much, that won’t help. Keep trying, but don’t think about it too much,” she told her. 

And so, El decided to forget. If she was meant to have a baby, it would happen when it was supposed to happen. She stopped keeping track of ovulation and put it all into fate’s hands. 

……..

November 1995

“You look beautiful, Max,” El said, as she pinned the veil into Max’s hair. 

“Not any more than you. I mean, look at you, you look like a supermodel or something,” Max replied.

El turned Max around to face her, “No, this is your day. You will not talk bad about yourself. You are the most beautiful today.”

“Fine, fine,” Max rolled her eyes. 

Lucas and Max getting married was a small miracle, what with the amount of times the two had broken up. Though, they’d been pretty steady for the last two and a half years. El assumed the role of maid of honor, and Dustin was Lucas’ best man. (The boys had made some sort of pact that allowed each one of them to be a best man at someone’s wedding, and apparently it was Dustin’s turn.)

El had been feeling off today. She felt a little nauseous and had almost thrown up in the car on the way here. 

“You okay, El? You look a little green,” Max said. 

“It’s nothing,” El shook it off. “Just feeling a little nauseous, but it’s not too bad.”

Max grinned, “Maybe your pregnant. That would be so cool for you to find out on my wedding day.”

El stared at her blankly. She’d never told Max that she and Mike were trying to have a baby. Joyce had been the only person to know that because El had wanted to surprise everyone when it actually happened. But now, Max’s remark could also be true. El counted backward in her head, trying to remember when her period had come last. 

Max watched her, confusion etched on her face at her friend’s lack of response. 

“What?… Are you?” Max asked. 

“I… I don’t know…. I might be,” El said, only just realizing it now. 

“Are you serious? Like you actually might be?” Max replied. 

“I mean, yeah. I…. We’ve been trying for over a year,” El told her. 

“Holy shit! Are you serious?” Max could barely contain herself at this point. “We need to get you a test. Like right now.”

“No, no, I don’t want to steal the attention from you. It’s your special day. I can wait until tomorrow,” El said. 

“No, you can’t. And El, I don’t mind. Besides, you don’t have to go and tell everyone if you are tonight. But I definitely think you should find out for yourself right now.”

“Fine,” El finally gave in. 

“Great! I’ll get Nancy to go get you a test,” Max ran out of the room to signal Nancy, who had been here to do their makeup. 

And with that, the nausea that had been building up inside El sent her running to the bathroom, where she threw up for almost five minutes straight. 

……..

Keeping a secret from the entire Party plus her family would be extremely hard for El because she was just so happy. The positive pregnancy test was securely hidden at the bottom of her purse. Max and Nancy had both been sworn to secrecy the moment El had come out of the bathroom with the news. The only issue now was how to tell Mike while keeping it from everyone else. 

El thought about waiting until after the wedding and reception were both over before telling Mike, but she was practically bursting with the news, and Mike would definitely notice her continued trips to the bathroom. 

El didn’t get a chance before the ceremony, so she just tried to keep her mind on her best friend. That worked for a while, but the moment the ceremony ended, she was itching to get a moment alone with Mike. 

Luckily, her moment came in between the wedding and the reception, while Lucas and Max were getting some pictures taken. 

“Mike, can I talk to you for a minute?” El whispered. 

Mike nodded, and let El pull him away from everyone else. 

“What’s going on?” Mike asked. He could tell there was something up with his wife. She was never this antsy. 

“I’m pregnant, Mike,” El said, smiling at him. 

“What?” Mike’s face lit up. “Are you sure?” 

“I’ve been throwing up and I took a test. I’m sure,” El nodded. 

“Holy shit,” Mike exclaimed, hugging El and lifting her off her feet. “We’re gonna have a baby.”

“Yes, we are,” El grinned. 

“When are we gonna tell everyone? We can’t do it today,” Mike said. 

“I know, but I just couldn’t take not telling you. We’ll tell them some other time. But Max and Nancy both know already,” El explained. 

“I can’t believe it.” 

“I know.”

“This is crazy.”

“I know.”

........

Somehow, they were able to make it through the reception without any slip ups, and luckily El’s nausea went away for the rest of the day. 

The next step was telling everyone, which would need to be done relatively soon because the two were so excited that there was no way they could keep it a secret for long. 

The plan was to tell their parents and siblings at Thanksgiving. Then, they would tell the rest of the Party at their own special “friendsgiving” that they’d been doing the past few years. 

“I’m nervous,” Mike said on their way to the Hopper residence. 

“Why?” El asked. 

“Well, Hopper could kill me,” Mike replied as if it were obvious. 

“Mike, we are married. He’s probably been expecting this. Maybe Joyce even tipped him off that we were trying,” El told him. 

“Still,” Mike mumbled. 

El rolled her eyes. 

Once they arrived, they were greeted by Joyce, who gave them each a hug. They were the last ones to arrive, Nancy and Jonathan were already there with Natalie and baby CJ, and Will was there too. 

Dinner at the Hoppers was always a fun affair. The table wasn’t big enough for all of them, but they still squished together eight chairs around a table that was only meant for six. Joyce’s cooking had never been very great, but it didn’t matter. They still enjoyed the company. 

“So, we have some exciting news to tell you all,” El interjected when the moment felt right. “Mike and I are having a baby.”

Joyce smiled brightly and congratulated the couple, coming to hug them both again. Will was surprised and gave them a look that said “why didn’t you tell me before?” 

Hopper simply smiled and raised his glass in a toast to Mike and El and the baby that would be here before they knew it. Later, he would bring Mike aside and tell him how much he appreciated that it was him that would raise children with his daughter. He would also tell El how proud he was to be a grandpa and that she was going to be an amazing mother. 

The Wheeler’s dinner was a little more sophisticated in a sense, but still exciting. Karen’s cooking was always excellent. Nancy and Jonathan kept quiet and had even managed to keep Natalie quiet about El’s pregnancy. 

Mike knew that his mother would be happy, so his nervous energy had evaporated and been replaced with excitement again. 

The Wheelers had a tradition that they would say what they are thankful for, going around the table. Usually, Mike hated the tradition, but this year, he waited eagerly for his turn. 

“Your turn, Natalie. What are you thankful for?” Nancy asked her daughter. 

“Cookies!” the three year old shouted, making everyone at the table giggle. 

Holly was next, saying that she was thankful for her new friend, John. This brought on some follow-up questions from Karen trying to see if her youngest daughter had a crush on this boy. Mike would have to guess yes. After all, Holly was 15 now. 

“Okay, it’s Mike’s turn now, leave me alone,” Holly declared. 

“Fine, Mike, go ahead,” Karen replied, turning her attention to her son. 

“This year, I’m very thankful for a lot of things, but most of all, I’m thankful for the baby that will be born in July,” Mike said. 

For a moment, everyone was silent. El smiled widely as she watched all their faces go from confused to overjoyed. 

“You’re pregnant?!” Karen squealed as she looked over at El for confirmation. 

El nodded, causing more squeals from Holly. Even Ted, who wasn’t much of a talker, smiled at his son and told him congratulations. 

........

Two days later, they held their Friendsgiving with the Party at their house. Given that Max had known for awhile and that Will had found out at Thanksgiving, they only had Lucas and Dustin left to tell. 

Every year after their meal, they played games. This year, Dustin suggested they play Never Have I Ever. Given that it was an alcoholic game, El decided to have water in her cup instead of alcohol. Mike didn’t want to drink if El wasn’t, so he got water too. 

“Never have I ever been to Disney World,” Will said. Mike, Dustin, and Lucas took a drink. 

“Never have I ever been married,” Dustin said. Both couples in the room rolled their eyes and drank. 

When it was finally Mike’s turn, he grinned as he said, “Never have I ever been pregnant.”

Both Dustin and Lucas looked very confused, while Max and Will were both trying hard not to react since they already knew. 

And then El took a drink.

“Wait WHAT?” Dustin shouted. 

“Holy shit, guys,” Lucas grinned. Max and Will lost it then, bursting into giggles. 

“Yep, we’re having a baby,” Mike confirmed, happily snaking one of his arms around El’s waist. 

The game was all but forgotten as the six friends came together in a group hug. 

Finally. They were finally having a baby.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to all who read my mileven stories. I appreciate your kind comments and kudos!


	15. Happy Little Family

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mike and El have some trouble picking a name for their baby, but when it's born, El knows exactly what feels right.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi, hi! I'm baaack! and super excited for this cute little update. Y'all I've been waiting for this one forever, and I'm so happy to finally share it with you.

July 1996

“She’s doing it again,” El said. 

Her husband rolled over in bed to face the large bump that was his wife’s stomach. “Hey baby,” he whispered. “Your momma is really tired and she wants to get some sleep. Stop doing so many somersaults.”

El giggled lightly. It had been a long nine months, but El was now only three days away from her due date. 

“We still need a name for this little girl,” Mike said quietly. 

“Any more ideas?” El asked. They had been talking about names for months, pretty much since the day they found out it was a girl. 

“Hannah?” Mike suggested. 

“Not bad, but it just doesn’t feel right,” El replied. That had been the biggest problem. Finding a name that suited the baby, and somehow El would know exactly what name that was when she heard it. 

“Michelle?” 

“Like from Full House? Pass,” El shook her head. 

“Leia,” Mike said. 

“Cute, but no, we are not naming our child after a Star Wars character.”

This went on for a long while, none of the names really grabbing El’s attention. The next morning, Mike went for a grocery run, so El decided to drive over to visit Hopper and Joyce. 

“Well, if it isn’t my daughter and soon-to-be granddaughter,” Hopper greeted as she walked in. “How are you feeling?”

“Tired. Little one has been very active lately.... We still don’t have a name,” El told him. 

“Well don’t worry too much. It took my ex wife and I forever to choose Sarah,” Hop replied. 

“How did you pick the name Sarah?” 

“My ex picked it. She said it was a beautiful name and that it was perfect for our little girl,” Hopper answered with sad eyes. 

........

The grocery store in Hawkins had always been annoyingly under stocked, as Mike would always try to come home with El’s favorites. Today, there was only one box of Eggos and let’s face it. El would eat a whole box in two days or less. 

Mike shoved the single box into his cart when he heard his name called from somewhere behind him. 

“Wheeler!” Steve said, walking up to him. “How’s it going, man? I haven’t seen you or Ellie in a while.” 

“Yeah, we’ve been staying home a lot. Getting ready for the baby and everything, you understand,” Mike explained. 

Steve nodded. He did understand. Steve was now married to a woman named Savannah, and they had just had a baby boy six months ago. “Totally. It’s definitely a big change, but you guys will be great parents.”

“Any last pointers before she gets here?” Mike asked. Even after all these years, he still looked up to Steve like a brother. 

“Enjoy the sleep you’re getting now because there won’t be much of it for a while after this,” Steve chuckled. “But seriously, don’t worry. You guys will be great.”

……..

The next night, El sat and stared at the clock for a long time, counting each second that ticked by and writing notes on a piece of paper. What she had originally thought were Braxton Hicks contractions were now becoming the real deal as they became longer, more painful, and closer together. She was waiting until they were five minutes apart before heading to the hospital, per her doctor’s recommendation. 

El felt bad for making Mike take so much care of her these past few weeks, but he didn’t mind. He was working on a bath for El, just in case she did have the baby tonight. She wanted to be clean before heading to the hospital. It was almost 11:00pm and she’d been keeping track of her contractions since 7:00pm. 

After she took her bath, El felt something pop and then she realized it was her water breaking. It was only fifteen minutes after that, when Mike finally managed to get El into the car and off to the hospital. Her contractions were now five minutes apart exactly. 

El figured out not long after that labor was not easy, though she’d been told several times that it would be painful. For hours, she laid in the hospital bed, her hand crushing Mike’s. El had a high pain tolerance, but this was still pretty intense even for her. At one point, she’d actually made the lights flicker. Luckily, no one had been in the room other than herself and Mike at the time and she was careful not to let it happen again. 

Phone calls had been made to family members and the Party just before they’d left for the hospital, but they’d told everyone to wait until they called again to come. El had read that labor for your first baby could take an entire day, and they didn’t want everyone out in the waiting room for that long. 

But finally, at one in the afternoon, after hours and hours of labor, El gave birth to their beautiful little girl. She was so tiny, but cried loudly. Her eyes were the same shade of brown as Mike’s and she had the tiniest little bit of brown hair on her head. She was a perfect mix of them, and a gorgeous little newborn. 

……..

“How long does it take to have a baby?” Dustin asked in exasperation. 

“Yeah, I thought Mike said it was almost time when he called, but we’ve been sitting here for an hour already,” Lucas complained. 

“Be patient, you guys. They probably just wanted a moment alone with her before letting people in,” Will scolded.

“Will’s right. You know Mike and El have to soak up every moment of their lives. And I’d like to see one of you try to push a child out of your body in less than an hour,” Max added. 

The Party sat opposite of the Wheelers and Hoppers. They’d all been waiting for a while. Mike had called to let them know El was about to start pushing and that they could come soon. Natalie was bouncing off the walls with excitement for getting a new cousin. 

Luckily, it was only ten minutes later when Mike came out to the group, smiling widely.

“She’s here!” he announced. 

Because of the rules at the hospital, they weren’t allowed to all go into El’s room at once, so Mike led his parents, Hopper, and Joyce in first. 

El sat in the bed, looking tired but so very happy as she held the little pink bundle in her arms. 

“She’s beautiful, Ellie,” Hopper said. 

“Wanna hold her?” El asked. 

Hopper nodded, and stepped closer to El so she could pass the baby over. One of her list fists found one of his fingers, and he teared up a little. (Not that he’d admit it.)

“You did good, kid,” Hopper told El. “What’s her name?”

“Sarah,” El answered. “Her name’s Sarah.”

Hopper looked at his daughter with tears in his eyes. He couldn’t deny it this time. The universe had given him a second chance at being a father. And he was so glad it had. 

“Well, don’t hog her, Dad. Let everyone else have a turn,” El teased. Hopper passed Sarah to Karen, who’s excitement was now boiling over. 

Mike and El knew the road of parenthood was not easy, but with their little baby Sarah and the love and support of their family, they knew that this was going to be an incredible journey. And they looked forward to it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Much love to you all and see you in the next chapter!
> 
> (Also, yes, I missed Steve, so he got a little cameo. Sue me.)


	16. Again

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Short ElMax scene bc we stan them/El's powers are running amuck and there's a reason why

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so it's been nearly two months since I updated this last... yikes. Anyways, as you can probably tell if you read my stories, I am currently finding myself without the extra time to write. So for now, posting will be sporadic. I could honestly post again within a few days or within a few weeks. Who knows? Not me. But much love to anyone who has been patiently waiting for me to update. I love y'all!
> 
> And also, I would like to apologize if this has a lot of editing mistakes in it, I did not proofread :)

January 1997

Like most major steps in life, becoming parents was a learning curve for Mike and El. Sleep was a thing of the past and most conversations they had with anyone anywhere consisted of talking about the baby. Luckily though, when things got tiring, they still had a ton of people to fall back on. Joyce and Karen had both spent countless days at Mike and El’s house helping out with the baby. The Party couldn’t stay away for too long either. 

Sarah was so special to them. El loved watching her stretch and wiggle and do all those things little babies do. She loved dressing her up in cute little outfits and snuggling her all day. Mike loved making her laugh, with her small giggles filling the entire house. 

“She’s really adorable for someone who is half Mike,” Max said one night as she and El were alone with the baby. Mike was out in a meeting with his publisher. 

El glared at her. “Maxine, please stop insulting my husband.”

Max rolled her eyes, “Yeah, whatever.”

“So,” El changed the subject as she bounced Sarah on her legs. “When are you gonna have one of these?”

“Funny you should ask,” Max answered cryptically. 

“You’re pregnant?!” El asked in excitement. 

Max nodded. “Found out yesterday. 5 weeks. Healthy as a horse.”

“I’m so happy for you!” El exclaimed. “Sarah, did you hear that? You’re gonna have a little friend to play with soon!”

Sarah cooed in response. 

Max’s smile faltered. “Were you… afraid when you found out you were pregnant?”

“Of course I was… are you?” El replied.

“Terrified,” Max admitted. 

“Don’t worry about it, Max. Everyone is scared at first. But the one thing you have to remember at the end of the day is that it’s so worth it… You are going to have someone who you love more than anything, and you’re going to love them so much, you won’t even be able to fathom it. It’s incredible… unlike anything else.”

Max smiled. “Thanks, El… Now, my turn!” she reached for Sarah, who grinned up at her. 

……..

July 1997

Sarah’s first birthday came quickly, and before they really knew it, Mike and El had a one year old. She was sleeping better now, and eating more regular food than baby food. They loved watching her toddle around the living room on her unsteady legs. Now that she was a little older, the freckles on her face were a little more pronounced, making her look more like her father. 

They threw a fun party for Sarah, inviting all of their friends and family. Sarah tried to keep up with CJ as they both ran around the house, but Sarah was a lot more unsteady on her feet, so she fell often. It was a great night for everyone. 

The morning after, El woke up feeling a bit weird. Her powers seemed to be on edge, as she accidentally caused the electric to flicker a few times. This happened occasionally. El figured that it was because her powers were rarely used at all now, so sometimes they would demand her attention. Like a virus or something. Normally, it was just one surge. It never lasted more than a few moments. Today, on the other hand, it was not going away. 

“Are you feeling alright?” Mike asked her after she made the TV flicker on and off a few times by accident. 

“Yeah.. I don’t know why I’m having such a bad surge today… But I’m fine. It’ll be over soon,” El told him. But it wasn’t. Later that night, she was still making things levitate and turning appliances on and off. 

“Maybe you should call someone,” Mike suggested. 

“The only person that might actually know what is wrong with me is Dr. Owens, but I don’t want to bother him. It’s not like I haven’t had a bad day before,” El said.

“But, El.. you never have days like this. Are you sure you’re okay?” Mike still worried about El anytime there was something small wrong with her. 

“I’m fine.. But I’ll call Dr. Owens in the morning to talk to him if I’m still feeling weird,” El gave in. 

The next day, El woke up feeling that same electrical spark in her mind, though it was a little dimmer today than the day before. So, she called Dr. Owens, who agreed to meet with her in the afternoon. 

……..

“How’s the little one?” Owens asked.

“She’s good. She just started walking actually,” El answered. “So… do you have any clue why my power have been off the charts for the past couple of days?”

El listened and tried to understand some of the science jargon that Owens was explaining. She really wished she’d brought Mike with her so that he could explain what Owens was saying. 

“But we won’t know exactly what it is without a few tests… Would you mind if I drew some blood? I know you don’t like needles, but I promise I’ll make it quick,” Owens asked. 

“That’s fine. I’ve gotten over my fear of needles after having a baby. I’ve been poked and prodded so many times, I probably won’t even feel it,” El told him. 

After Owens took her blood sample, El left to go back home with a promise from Dr. Owens that he would call when he had an answer for her. El was exhausted, but at least there was the sweetest little person to greet her at the end of the day. 

“Mama!” Sarah yelled when El came in the front door. It was one of the few words she had spoken. 

“Hi baby!” El scooped Sarah up and snuggled her into her chest. 

Mike, who looked a little disheveled from playing with the toddler all day, came to greet his wife with a kiss. “How did it go?” he asked. 

“Still don’t have any answers, but he took some blood and he’s going to call when he knows something,” El explained. 

For the next two days, El’s powers were still acting up, but slowly diminished. Then, finally, Owens called. 

“Hello?” El answered the phone in anticipation. Hopefully this surge was just an oddity that would go away. 

“Hello, El. Feeling any better?” Owens asked. 

“Yes, actually. It’s going away very slowly.. did you figure out why my powers got so hyperactive all of the sudden?” 

“Yes. Yes, I did….” Owens paused almost dramatically. “You’re pregnant.”

“What?” El thought maybe she’d misheard him. 

“I said you’re pregnant.”

“But.. that doesn’t.. that doesn’t make any sense… my powers… this didn’t happen when I was pregnant before,” El was almost not able to articulate her thoughts. 

“Well, I don’t know why it happened this time and not the last time, but I assure you, there’s nothing wrong with you at all. You’re very healthy. And you’re also very pregnant.”

El was almost speechless. “Wow… Thanks, Dr. Owens.” They said a few more pleasantries before hanging up, and leaving El to contemplate this new information.

They hadn’t even been trying to get pregnant. El had thought, since it had taken them so long to have Sarah, there was no way that they would ever have an “accident”. Yet here she was… pregnant. It seemed impossible, and El stood staring at the phone, unable to fully comprehend it all. They were going to have another baby. 

“Hey, was that Dr. Owens?” Mike asked as he walked into the room. 

El nodded. 

“What did he say?” 

El looked up her husband, knowing that the news she was about to give him was going to change their lives even more. She was happy, and she knew he would be too. “He said I’m pregnant,” El revealed. 

“What? Are you.. Are you serious?” Mike replied, looking confused, but hoping that she wasn’t kidding. 

El nodded excitedly, smiling. 

Mike picked her up and spun them around as he shouted, “El, oh my God! We’re having another kid!”

“We are!” El said when he finally put her back on the floor. “Sarah’s going to have a little brother or sister.”

……..

Telling people this time around was just as fun as the last time. They told Hopper and Joyce first, who were ecstatic to be getting another grand baby. 

Things were changing again, in a good way. And through it all, Mike and El would stay by each others side. The only mystery left was why El’s powers had acted up with this pregnancy and not with Sarah. 

But just like every mystery Mike and El encounter, they would solve this one too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Am I going overboard with the baby chapters?? (Bc I'm being very self-indulgent and I cannot tell lol) 
> 
> Anyways, thanks for reading and leave me any final requests you have before the end of this fic!! (It's almost over!!)

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading <3


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